Education Secretary visits remote border area village on boat and foot to feel pulse of students and parents
Border area villagers demand Pontoon Bridge or School
Ferozepur, January 14, 2020: Punjab Education Secretary, Krishan Kumar visited Kaluwala village taking a ride on boat to cross over Sutlej and then on foot to remote border area village Kaluwala and this gesture to reach the remote area villages on boat and foot, to feel the pulse of students and parents, has become a talk of the area.
The students from Kaluwala - which is surrounded with Sutlej River from three sides and one side touching the Indo-Pak border - and other 14 villages near the Indo-Pak border had to go to remote border area school Senior Secondary School, Gatti Rajo Ke with the strength of 700 students, daily by boat and on foot.
It is the daily routine of the students during winter and summer season and sometimes it is difficult for them to reach during freezing temperatures and fog and scorching heat. Dr. Satinder Singh, Principal of the school informed that once due to the release of excess water from Harike headworks in Sutlej, many students could not go back to their houses and to stay in the village itself.
The border area villages had a long-pending demand for a bridge over the Sutlej to shorten the route to reach the city and convenience for their children to attend to the classes in school. Otherwise, they had to come via Hussainiwala Bridge covering 16 km distance.
On listening to this story, Krishan Kumar personally visited the village Kaluwala across the Sutlej River, first on a bike, then on boat and on foot for 5 km, to had interaction with the parents of the students of border area, who demanded that either a pontoon bridge should be constructed or some school should be set up in the village itself. However, Punjab Education Secretary promised a solution to their problem.