Land of 27 govt schools has yet to be retrieved

The district administration has yet to take action to retrieve the land of 27 government schools, including 13 in Rawalpindi city, which has been illegally occupied.

A senior official of the education department told Dawn that on the directives of the Punjab government, the District Education Authority compiled a comprehensive report regarding encroachments on government school land and submitted it to the district administration, which was to retrieve the land on which markets have been established.

However, he said no action has been taken in the two weeks since the report has been submitted.

He said the revenue department’s documents were also included in the report.

The official said the Government Mission High School, Islamia High School, Government School No.1 and others have lost most of their land due to encroachments. Houses and shops have been built on the land.

“The previous government also directed the District Land Revenue Department to identify the land of schools registered with the department before partition and after the imposition of the nationalisation policy in 1973,” he said.

The official said the district administration did not do the work and that the PTI government also stopped work on the initiative when it received the list of encroachers’ names.

On the other hand, a district administration official said the administration has received reports from the Auqaf Department, Evacuee Trust Property Board and the education authority and that action will be taken against illegal occupation soon.

A demarcation will be conducted to ascertain the actual size of plots and the list will be updated before being handed over to the enforcement cell.

He said the demarcation will be conducted next week.

When asked, District Education Authority Chief Executive Officer Riaz Ahmed said there were many issues regarding government school land and that action will be taken after clearing court cases.

FJWU seminar on Iqbal

The Urdu department of the Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU) organised a seminar to celebrate the birth anniversary of Allama Iqbal.

The chief guest on the occasion was eminent educationist and scholar Prof Dr Shahid Iqbal and retired justice Nasira Javed Iqbal.

Dr Iqbal reiterated the importance of Iqbal’s ideas and their relevance today.

He appreciated the organisers of the event and said such seminars should be held in the future as well.

Nasira Iqbal said Allama Iqbal wanted the youth to take part in the prosperity of Muslims and that the youth can lead the nation to success.

FJWU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Samina Amin Qadir said: “Iqbal achieved so much in his life.

He was a motivator, philosopher, leader, legendary poet and man of great ideas and values. The nation salutes him for his efforts”.

Dr Qadir presented a souvenir to the guests. The event was attended by a large number of students, faculty members and staff from various departments.

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2018