Moalims

ISLAMABAD: Two newly-built government colleges in Islamabad’s rural areas, which were supposed to start classes a few years ago, are still waiting to be inaugurated thanks to a lack of interest from the concerned authorities.

These institutions – the Government Degree College for Men in Sihala and the Government Degree College for Women in Bhara Kahu – are the only facilities of their kind available in the rural areas.

The Sihala men’s college building was completed a few years ago, but its inauguration was delayed due to a dispute over a boundary wall. The women’s college is facing a similar dispute.

Two newly-built campuses have been awaiting inauguration for years
“We are serious about opening these two colleges soon. There is a dispute with locals over the boundary walls of both colleges, which we are trying to resolve,” Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) Secretary Khalid Hanif said.

CADD is supposed to look after the affairs of the city’s education sector, but has yet to significantly improve Islamabad’s educational institutions.

Mr Hanif said that all the necessary purchases, such as furniture, have been made for the Sihala college, but a local resident filed a case in the district court to prevent the education department from constructing a boundary wall.

“The Bhara Kahu college is also facing an encroachment issue. Recently, I wrote to the chief commissioner Islamabad for the demarcation of land,” Hanif said.

Bhara Kahu residents have been waiting for a women’s college in their area for 11 years, but construction work still remains unfinished.

“We have provided funds to complete the remaining work at the Bhara Kahu college and are doing our utmost to resolve the boundary wall issue,” Mr Hanif said.

The Bhara Kahu women’s college was initially promised by former prime minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali in 2004.

There is no other degree college in the entire area and women have to travel to F-6 and F-7 for access to colleges.

“Most girls end up staying home because they cannot afford private van rents – which range from Rs3,000 to Rs4,000 per month – to reach colleges. That this facility hasn’t been opened is an injustice,” Afzal Khan, a resident, said.

Meanwhile, the men’s college in Sihala, which was established at the cost of Rs149 million, is the only hope for hundreds of students in the area, who have to travel several kilometres to reach colleges in H-8, H-9 or in Satellite Town, Rawalpindi.

“We have been waiting for this college to open for the last three years, but it seems the education department has no interest in opening this facility,” Mohammad Arshad, a Sihala resident, said.

According to teachers in the area, the college land is being encroached upon by a landlord. They said that the land being occupied by the individual allotted Plot No 42 (adjacent to the college premises) is much larger than the area allotted to him. According to the teachers, Plot No 42 measures 4.5 acres as per the CDA’s allotment letter, but the person occupying the land has taken up over 10 acres.

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2015