Absence of engineering wing delays thousands of school works in J&K

Srinagar, May 2: The School Education Department (SED) in Jammu and Kashmir is grappling with delays and poor execution of civil works, primarily due to the absence of a dedicated engineering wing within the department.

The situation stems from a 2021 decision by the J&K administration to withdraw the department’s engineering wing and merge it with the Public Works (R&B) Department. The move has adversely impacted the pace of infrastructure development projects aimed at improving school facilities across the Union Territory.

A top official told Greater Kashmir that out of 10000 projects, work has been done only on 3000 projects, while the remaining projects are yet to be taken up by the concerned executing agency- Roads and Buildings Department.

“But we cannot put the blame on the executing agency as it is already overburdened because it is the only department taking care of projects in the whole government sector,” the official told Greater Kashmir.

He said the SED earlier used to have its separate engineering wing in SamagraShiksha, which would help in the timely execution of the projects, but since the wing was withdrawn, the projects have been stalled.

“The separate engineering wing was allotted to SED for the execution of projects sanctioned by the Department of School Education and Literacy (DSEL) under the SamagraShiksha. But the abrupt decision to withdraw the wing disrupted the smooth flow of project execution,” he said.

He said the engineering wing was withdrawn from SED in 2021 following the government decision to merge the engineering wings of 15 departments with the Public Works department.

“At that time, SED had pending construction of over 1000 school buildings sanctioned under the erstwhile SSA and RMSA scheme,” he said.

Notably, the Project Approval Board (PAB) meeting with the Department of School Education and Literacy (DSEL) for the annual work plan and budget for the current financial year is scheduled on May 7, 2026.

“Like previous years, we are again lagging in the execution of civil works. Despite getting a smooth flow of funds, we fail in execution,” the official told Greater Kashmir.

Amid this, the schools with inadequate infrastructure are facing problems in accommodating students in schools.

“In many cases, the students of more than one class are adjusted in one room while the new additional classroom awaits completion,” the official said.

Minister for Education, SakinaItoo, while acknowledging the slow pace in execution of civil works, said it has become a persistent problem.

“We have only a few projects completed while majority of the projects are pending. The contractors after taking up the project, delay in execution and completion,” she said.

She also attributed the slow pace in the execution of works to the non-availability of a separate engineering wing.

“Earlier, SED had its separate engineering wing which was withdrawn unnecessarily. It caused a lot of problems during the last four to five years,” she told Greater Kashmir.

She however, said the government was looking into the issue and assured that the projects will be completed in a time bound manner.