Ludhiana: 6 yrs on, home guards continue to use three school rooms as offices

For the past six years, students and staff at the Government Primary Smart School (basic) in Jagraon have faced difficulties due to three rooms of the school being occupied by home guards, who use them as offices since 2018.

School in-charge Karamjeet Kaur explained that the school has around 375 students, but with three rooms taken over by the home guards, the remaining six rooms are not enough to accommodate all the students. “We have requested the authorities to order the home guards to vacate these rooms. We are forced to conduct two different classes in a single room, which hampers the students’ learning,” she said.

Teachers have been managing by dividing a single room into two, using almirahs. “On one side, UKG students have their class, and on the other side, Class 5 students are taught. But the noise and disturbance from one class affects the other, and the room gets so congested that it’s hard for students and teachers to breathe,” said another teacher. She also recalled an incident where students were placed in a room with electricity meters, which once caught fire.

Karamjeet Kaur mentioned that Punjab member legislative assembly Sarvjit Kaur Manuke visited the school on Tuesday and took stock of the issue. Senior citizens and former educators, including Joginder Azad and Baldev Singh, have also raised concerns and have met officials regarding the same.

Block primary education officer (Jagraon) Sukhdev Singh said that a letter was sent to the district education office on Wednesday regarding this matter.

Home guard Daljit Singh said that they were allotted the space by the previous government in 2017. “We have submitted all necessary documents, and if ordered, we will move immediately,” he added.

Deputy commissioner Sakshi Sawhney, when approached, said, “I recently learned about this matter, and the home guard commandant has written that he has permission to use the space for official purposes. However, I have called both parties for a meeting to resolve the issue.”