SRINAGAR: Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo, today chaired a high-level meeting to review the progress of infrastructure development works being executed in schools across J&K.
The meeting was also attended by ACS, Higher Education Department; Principal Secretary, PWD; Secretary, School Education; Secretary, Law; MD, Samagra Shiksha; Director School Education, Kashmir/Jammu; Secretary, JK BOSE; Chief Engineers of R&B, besides other concerned officers.
The Chief Secretary emphasised that the executing agencies should ensure time-bound completion of all ongoing projects and strictly adhere to the strict monitoring mechanisms. He directed the officers to give priority to projects nearing completion so that the benefits of improved infrastructure are extended to the student community without delay.
Underscoring the importance of transparency, the Chief Secretary also called for effective utilisation of resources, ensuring that each work taken up under the UT Capex contributes to strengthening the learning environment in government schools.
During the meeting, the Secretary, School Education Department (SED), Ram Niwas Sharma made a detailed presentation on the financial and physical achievements registered so far.
It was informed that during the financial year 2024-25, an allocation of Rs 185.67 Cr was approved, out of which Rs 146.77 Cr were made available. Against this, an expenditure of Rs 122.14 Cr was incurred, thereby achieving 83.21 percent expenditure.
For the current financial year 2025-26, an allocation of Rs 180.50 Cr has been made, with an availability of Rs 90.25 Cr till date. Out of this, an expenditure of Rs 25.06 Cr has already been registered up to August 2025.
On the physical side, the Secretary apprised that 2,716 works were taken up in 2024-25, out of which 1,048 works were completed. Similarly, for 2025-26, around 2,356 works have been taken up, with 1,779 works targeted for completion, out of which 10 works have been completed till August 2025.
The Chief Secretary was further informed about the district-wise abstract of Capex works for 2025-26, under which 1,089 works (540 in Jammu Division and 549 in Kashmir Division) have been approved. The overall allocation for these works stands at Rs 3905.79 lakh, out of which Rs 1261.32 lakh has been released so far. The allocations include Rs 2644.98 lakh for Jammu Division and Rs 1260.81 lakh for Kashmir Division.
The Chief Secretary also took note of the projects such as hostels of girl students, PM SHRI projects and those being taken up for completion under Samagra Shiksha and other centrally sponsored schemes.