Education Plan for J&K and Ladakh Put on Hold Over Lack of Funds

The plan was put on hold as funds were not available for such a “major initiative,” a senior HRD official said.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) has put on hold its massive Rs 2,600 crore education plan for Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh due to lack of funds, a senior government official said, according to The Print.

The HRD ministry had chalked out a plan to improve the quality of education and infrastructure in J&K and Ladakh after the abrogation of Article 370.

“We had drawn up the plan and were estimating the available resource envelope for this project,” a senior HRD official said, adding that funds were not available for such a “major initiative.”

The HRD ministry initially had plans to fund the project through its Rashtriya Uchchattar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) scheme. However, the funds through RUSA was also inadequate, another official told The Print.

The Modi government had abrogated the special status of Jammu & Kashmir under the Article 370 of the Constitution and divided the state into two Union territories in August this year.

HRD’s Roadmap

The Modi government looked to open new colleges and revamp the current infrastructure with more funds, as part of its education plan, The Print reported.

Respective ministries were sent to J&K to assess the ground situation and prepare a roadmap, soon after Article 370 and 35A were scrapped.

Jammu and Kashmir employment enhancement training scheme for around 5,000 students, a vocational scheme and a mentoring scheme for around 25,000 students are some of the projects which have been stuck due to insufficient funds.

With an aim to make students job-ready, the HRD ministry had also planned to improve the quality of technical institutions, including polytechnics, The Print reported.

A plan to establish constituent colleges in five universities has also been put on hold.

Another official clarified that the region will continue to receive the funds it has been getting till now. However, there will be "no additional funding," he said.