The change of site for Danish school project by the Punjab government in Karor Laleson, Layyah has become a cause of concern for many people in the area. Originally, the school was to be built on a barren land of forest department nearly four kilometers away from the Karor city. But due to political intervention, it has now been shifted to a cultivated land in the suburbs of the city.
Currently, this piece of land is used for seed farms by the agriculture department. In this use, the land generates a handsome amount of revenue for the government. Nearly 510 acres of fertile land will be occupied by the project and around 1000 people, who inhabit and cultivate the land, will lose their source of bread earning. Their homes will be destroyed.
Undoubtedly, this educational project is a dire need of the educationally backward area but conventional wisdom demands that the school should be built on the land which is in no use and lying barren.
Political interference in such public welfare projects must be avoided and the government should start building the school on the land originally proposed. This will cause no population displacement, no livelihood loss, no sources of income destroyed and no resentment among people of the area. This will also prevent unnecessary delay in the vital project.
GHULAM MUSTAFA SEHAR
Layyah
