Dharmendra Pradhan writes to West Bengal CM on land, temporary accommodation for 2 JNVs

NEW DELHI: Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan urged West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to provide suitable land and temporary accommodation for two Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) in the state. The education minister wrote to Banerjee asking her to “look into the matter personally” and issue instructions to the concerned to expedite the process of transfer of land and temporary accommodation for JNVs located in South-24 Parganas-1 and Malda.

“As you are aware, JNVs are co-educational residential schools providing modern quality education to the talented children predominantly belonging from the rural areas from Classes VI to XII. The pre-requisites for opening of a JNV are provision of about 30 acres of suitable land, free of cost, along with adequate temporary rent free accommodation, sufficient enough to accommodate approximately 240 students, to be provided by the concerned State Government to run the Vidyalaya for a period of 3 to 4 years or till construction of its own permanent Vidyalaya building complex,” Pradhan said in the letter addressed to West Bengal CM.

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The education minister brought to Banerjee’s notice that JNV in South 24 Parganas was sanctioned in 2007 and made functional during the academic year 2007-08 from a temporary site provided by the District Administration. The latter had also assured to transfer land in favor of NVS for construction of the permanent building. However, the transfer of the offered land is still awaited and the temporary site has also been withdrawn during February 2021. As a result, the students studying in the JNV had to be shifted to the nearby JNVs and further admissions to the school have also been put on hold.

Moreover, JNV Malda which was sanctioned in November 2016 is still non-functional for want of suitable land for construction of permanent site and temporary accommodation, the minister added.

“I would like to request you to look into the matter personally and issue necessary instructions to the concerned officers to expedite the identification and transfer of suitable land and temporary accommodation for both the above-mentioned JNVs on priority basis so that these Vidyalayas can be made functional at the earliest in the larger interest of the education of the rural children of these two districts,” the letter said.