Students in south Kashmir’s Rajpora college suffer amid construction delay

Pulwama, Apr 20: The lingering construction at the Government Degree College in South Kashmir’s Rajpora area continues to disrupt academic work ,leaving students to face immense hardships.  The construction work on a main college building , according to the students, has been going on for the last five to six years, forcing them to study in makeshift huts.  Established in 2019, the college which enrolls over 300 students, operated out of a government middle school.  “We have recently  relocated to a new campus,  but here  we have to study  in fabricated huts. We want the government to complete the construction work as soon as possible’, " said a student.

He said that during the harsh weather conditions it became difficult for them  to study in the prefabricated  huts.  Mursaleen Shabir, a fourth-semester student, said that a constant noise emanating from construction work  made it difficult for them  to focus on their studies. “The generators remain on, causing more distraction,” said the student.

She said that even their  faculty members face difficulty while delivering lectures, as they have to raise their voices to be heard. Echoing the same views, a group of students said that they wanted the authorities to expedite the construction work to prevent further disruptions to their academic work.

Dr Gazala, Principal at Government Degree College Rajpora said that they shifted to the new campus due to the shortage of space. Admitting the construction delays, the Principal said that the construction that was to be completed in March is still going on.  She, however, said that a water connection had been provided and the electricity connection would be installed soon.  The Principal said that she had written the higher authorities umpteen times regarding the completion of main building construction work, but to no avail. “ We hope the authorities will expedite the work”, she added.