Centre sanctions Rs 200 crore for J&K primary teachers

Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday said the Centre has sanctioned Rs 200 crore for paying pending salaries of primary teachers in Jammu and Kashmir.

Following a meeting with Jammu and Kashmir Education Minister Altaf Bukhari here, Javadekar said Rs 25 crore of the Rs 52 crore sanctioned for two engineering colleges in the state will be released this week.

These engineering colleges will be at Sapakora in the Kashmir valley and at Kathua in Jammu.

Tutorial work will begin this year, said Javadekar, adding that the construction of the buildings will be completed in two years.

He said that like in the case of engineering students, scholarships will be available to polytechnic students.

The minister said seven hostels costing Rs 50 crore will come up for girl students at Bemina, Paloda, Thatri, Rajouri, Kupwada, Pulwama and Kargil.

Javadekar said an expert committee will go to Jammu within a week to assess the suitability of the land offered by the state government for the permanent campus of Indian Institute of Management.

"The Rs 19,500 crore special package to the state announced by the Prime Minister has been released. This is bound to benefit the state in many ways.

"We will continue to solve other related problems in future too," said Javadekar, adding the recurring grant of Rs 34 crore to secondary education will be sanctioned this week.

Referring to the disturbed situation in the state, Javadekar pointed to nearly "99 per cent" attendants of students despite incidents of burning of schools.

--IANS

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