6 years on, work on college building in Mandi hangs fire

Tribune News Service

Dipender Manta

Mandi, September 18

The construction of the Government Degree College building in Kotli under the Sadar Assembly constituency of Mandi is going on at a snail’s pace. Area residents as well as college students are facing inconvenience due to the slow pace of work.

Classes are being run from a primary school, which has inadequate infrastructure to provide basic facilities to students. The college came into existence on June 22, 2016, during the previous Congress government regime, but has been lacking basic infrastructure for the purpose. The college offers undergraduate courses in arts and commerce.

According to Priyadarshani, the college’s officiating principal, there are around 130 students in the college. College students said they needed better infrastructure. Due to the apathy of the government, the construction of the college building has been hanging fire for a long time.

Student activists of the NSUI recently gave a memorandum regarding the issue to the state government through the Kotli Sub-Divisional Magistrate. They urged Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur to look into the matter and ensure that the work on the college building is completed soon in Kotli.

Avinash, Madhu, Mahesh and other students of the college said: “The government has been promising better education facilities at village level but could not ensure completion of the college building even after six years. We have been waiting desperately for the completion of this project, which will benefit the area students.”

Dipak Sharma, a resident of Kotli, said it was unfortunate that the students of the area were lacking basic infrastructure due to the government’s apathy. CM Thakur should take a note of the issue and ensure timely completion of the project.

BJP MLA Anil Sharma from Mandi Sadar told The Tribune that: “Due to shortage of funds, the construction work was delayed. Earlier, the government had approved Rs 5 crore, while the estimated cost of the project is Rs 18 crore. I have taken up the matter with the state government. As soon the funds are approved, the work of the project will be expedited.”

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