3 Missionary Schools given 3,000 Cr worth land @ Rs. 40,000
Abrar Mattoo
SRINAGAR, Feb 1: Around 214 Kanals of land capped at the market rate of Rs. 3250 Crores have been rented to three missionary schools around the city center, Lal Chowk, at a throwaway price of Rs. 39,375.
The respective three missionary schools, namely Tyndale Biscoe and Mallinson school, Burnhall school, and Presentation Convent school are collectively renting 214 Kanals of land around the city center for an accumulated rent of Rs. 39,375 per annum.
Though the leases to all three missionary schools expired by the year 2017, only Burnhall and Presentation Convent were able to renew their leases for an annual rent of Rs. 30,000 for 95 Kanals and Rs. 8250 for 32 Kanals, respectively, i.e., Rs. 25 per Kanal, per month.
Similarly, Biscoe and Mallinson school, which was not able to renew its lease has an annual rent of Rs. 1250 for a quantum of 87 Kanals, i.e., Rs. 2 per Kanal, per month. Ironically, even that little amount of rent, the school has failed to pay since 1975. In the year 2012, in response to an RTI query, the government revealed that the Biscoe and Mallinson school at Sheikh Bagh Lal Chowk had an outstanding rent of nearly 1.8 Crores to the government.
Further, the live leases to two Missionary schools, namely Burnhall school and Presentation school are considered illegal by the government apparatus by virtue of the enactment of Land Grants Rules, 2022. Moreover, both leases were illegal even at the time of the renewal in 2019 since the leases were granted in the name of Christian societies and the erstwhile J&K Land Grants Act, 1960, did not recognize the societies which were not deemed state subjects at that time.
Surprisingly, the trio of these Missionary schools is minting millions from students, since only the children of the affluent study in these schools. According to an insider source in one of the Missionary societies in Srinagar, the annual revenue of the three schools can be anywhere between 450 to 500 Crores.
Furthermore, the three schools were mandated to offer a 25% free-ship quota to children from poor backgrounds according to both National Education Policy 2020 and the lease agreements that they had signed with the government. However, to date, all three schools have blatantly flaunted this requirement.
Speaking with Kashmir Despatch, G N Var, president of J&K Private Schools’ Association said that “instead of offering free education to children from a poor background, all the three schools are dividing the society at the very entrance of the school by offering education to only the rich.”
Mr. Var further said that these schools are creating a renewed caste system in Kashmir valley by separating the children of the affluent from the children of the poor, and that reverberates throughout all strata of the society.
Although Mr. Var pitched for government intervention, it remains to be seen what manner of action would follow on part of the government regarding these three Missionary Schools.
