The Jammu and Kashmir Education department is embarking on an ambitious project to revive late-evening life in the conflict-torn valley through students. For the first time since militancy broke out in the 1990s, the department is starting evening courses in colleges located near commercial hubs.
The first-ever evening course will be in nursing, starting at the prestigious Government Women’s College, M A Road, Srinagar, and Women’s College Gandhi Nagar, Jammu.
“The idea is to infuse life in Srinagar city, which goes to sleep immediately after sundown. These evening courses will see movement of students, who will keep a range of sellers busy till late evening. It will drive the economy too. We are offering hostel facilities to the students,” Education Minister Nayeem Akhtar told The Hindu.
“We are also planning evening courses in Chinese, Arabic, Persian etc. In the near future, Mandarin is bound to be a prospective language,” said Mr. Akhtar.
Srinagar’s Government Women’s College is situated near the commercial hub Lal Chowk.
The Valley has very little late-evening activities. The militancy in the 1990s has seen street life coming to an end by sundown.
The considerable decrease in questioning of pedestrians and decreasing number of bunkers from the residential and commercial areas in the city have helped people to venture out in the evenings.
Libraries
Buoyed by decrease in footprints of soldiers in the city, the Education department is also planning round-the-clock libraries.
“These libraries will have Internet facilities. It will come as a major social and revolutionary intervention. This will help fight mental barriers of people who have been brought up to believe that classes are only a daylong exercise. This is bound to create jobs too,” he added.
