Nazool Land Beneficiaries Bound to Work as Charitable Societies
SRINAGAR: The divisional administration on Tuesday asked all the private schools running from government leased lands in Kashmir to specify whether they are running as charitable societies established for a non-profitable purpose, a prerequisite for the procurement of government land on lease.
All the schools who have acquired the govt lease land will have to advertise the number of poor children who are given free education. These schools will have to specify whether they are following the guidelines which are stipulated for running school on leased land in light of the Supreme Court judgment, said Shailinder Kumar, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir.
They are answerable to public and as such they should make all information available. They should keep an audited account of their organizations on school website so that people get access to it readily, he said.
Sources said there are 1100 kanals of land leased to several private schools in Srinagar against a paltry sum. According to sources, Presentation Convent School pays Rs 12000 per annum for 95 kanals while Burnhall School pays Rs 100 per kanal for land leased out to it. It is no different for Biscoe also as the school only pays Rs 1000 for the land allotted to it.
Besides, the source say, the lease holders are mostly non-state subjects and have been allotted land only after specifying that they are running charitable organisations.
The schools running from the leased land, by virtue of the agreement with the Nazool department, are bound to abide by the stipulations under the Land Grants Act, 1960.
As per the section 4 of Land Grants Act 1960, every school is supposed to be a registered charitable society established for a non-profitable purpose.
The defaults on the part of School administration can lead to the termination of the lease.
The Land Grants Act specifies that the lessee cannot undertake any construction on the leased land without the prior permission from the lessor.
Meanwhile, the Divisional Commissioner also categorically rejected the allegations by Presentation Convent that it was being harassed and its construction was stopped without any reason.
An official statement said that the school was running from the Nazool land under the lease hold rights which expire on September 18, 2017.
The statement said that when the Nazool came to know about an illegal construction that was going on inside the premises of Presentation Convent, the school authorities were asked to stop it on July 7 through law enforcing agencies.
Commissioner Srinagar Municipal Corporation, G N Qasba, confirmed that the permission granted to the school in July 2012 was put to abeyance in December for want of other legal formalities including an NOC from Nazool.
Carrying out construction without any valid orders is a violation and they should go by norms, said Qasba.
Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group: Join Now
Be Part of Quality Journalism |
Quality journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce and despite all the hardships we still do it. Our reporters and editors are working overtime in Kashmir and beyond to cover what you care about, break big stories, and expose injustices that can change lives. Today more people are reading Kashmir Observer than ever, but only a handful are paying while advertising revenues are falling fast. |
| ACT NOW |
| MONTHLY | Rs 100 |  |
| YEARLY | Rs 1000 | |
| LIFETIME | Rs 10000 | |
