Ludhiana: Despite admn’s order, home guards yet to vacate Jagraon school premises

On September 20, the deputy commissioner ordered the rooms be vacated within 15 days, but to no avail. On November 7, Jagraon tehsildar Surinder Singh visited the school following which home guards sought an extension until November 11, but they are yet to leave the school premises.

Despite promising to vacate the premises of Government Primary Smart School, Basic, Jagraon, by November 11, home guard volunteers have failed to do so, much to the chagrin of students and teachers who have been facing space crunch.

Home guards took possession of a few rooms of the government school in Jagraon to establish their office in 2018. (HT file)

In 2018, home guards took over school rooms to set up their offices, causing overcrowding and disrupting the smooth learning process. On September 20, the deputy commissioner ordered the rooms be vacated within 15 days, but to no avail. On November 4, senior citizens and educators urged the SDM office to get it vacated in a week. On November 7, Jagraon tehsildar Surinder Singh visited the school following which home guards sought an extension until November 11, but they are yet to leave the school premises.

On November 14, as many as 84 protesters, including members of the Democratic Teachers Front (DTF), school staff and veteran educators, staged a demonstration outside the school. They demanded immediate enforcement of the deputy commissioner’s order and later held a rally.

The school has 375 students but only six classrooms are available, forcing teachers to hold joint classes, thus compromising education quality.

School in-charge Kuldeep Kaur and teacher Rekha highlighted the challenges, stating that storerooms are being used as classrooms. “Though we received grant to construct rooms recently, we do not have adequate space as a piece of land at the rear side cannot be used as it has been planted with trees under a green initiative and has reptiles, posing a threat to students,” said Rekha, adding, “We urgently need the three rooms occupied by the home guards.”

During a November 22 education committee meeting, MLA Manwinder Singh Giaspura said the rooms be vacated immediately, with a report to follow.

Home Guards district commander Satya Prakash had earlier said the relocation sites have been identified but deputy commissioner’s approval is awaited.

Sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Simrandeep Singh said an official would visit the school within the week to resolve the issue. “The additional deputy commissioner has already directed the assistant commissioner to visit the school. He was about to visit last week. Within this week, the official concerned will visit the school and will get the rooms vacated,” he assured.