There’s 99.7% attendance in Kashmir schools, junior home minister tells Lok Sabha

Minister of State for Home Affairs G. Kishan Reddy tells Lok Sabha that school attendance was initially ‘thin’ in the Kashmir Valley, but picked up later.

Delhi Public School in Srinagar | Praveen Jain | ThePrint

New Delhi: The central government Wednesday reiterated that the situation in Kashmir is normal and said students’ attendance in schools in the Valley stands at 99.7 per cent in the ongoing examinations.

In a written reply to questions in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Home Affairs G. Kishan Reddy said after the scrapping of Article 370 on 5 August, the attendance of the students was initially “thin”, but it gradually picked up.

ThePrint had earlier reported that attendance across the schools in Srinagar was negligible amid the clampdown in Jammu and Kashmir. Even though the government had lifted restrictions on the movement of vehicles in most of Srinagar, parents were apprehensive about the security situation and had stopped their children from attending schools.

Since no classes were being held, teachers in many schools had distributed CDs containing video lessons to let students resume studies at home and prepare for their examinations.

190 cases of stone-pelting registered

Despite a severe crackdown on “notorious” stone-pelters before and after the scrapping of Article 370, including driving them out of the Valley and lodging them in separate jails in Uttar Pradesh, including Agra and Bareilly, the police has been unable to effectively curb the incidents.

So far, since 5 August, 765 people have been arrested in 190 cases related to stone-pelting and law and order. However, the government said the number is far less than usual — between 1 January and 4 August this year, 361 such cases were registered.

“The government has initiated multi-pronged policies to check the stone-pelting menace and has succeeded in curbing it to the extent that a large number of troublemakers, instigators and mob mobilisers have been identified and various preventive measures have been taken against them which include detention under PSA and preventive arrests,” a statement by the union home ministry said.

“Investigation has revealed that various separatist organisations and activists which are part of Hurriyat have been behind the incidents of stone pelting in Kashmir valley. NIA has charge-sheeted 18 persons in the terror-funding cases so far,” it added.

In a related question in the Lok Sabha, the government also said 950 incidents of ceasefire violations have been reported along the Line of Control between August and October 2019.

Tourism increasing

The government also said tourism is on the rise in Kashmir, calling it a good sign.

A total of 34,10,219 tourists, including 12,934 foreigners, have visited Jammu and Kashmir during the last six months, resulting in an income of Rs 25.12 crore.