Representatives of Hayatabad private schools owners have rejected the policy and procedure of auctioning plots for the construction of school buildings by Peshawar Development Authority (PDA) on exorbitant prices and demanded of provincial government to offer the plots without auction on reasonable rates.
Speaking at a press conference at Peshawar Press Club on Wednesday National Education Council Chairman Nazar Hussain said that basic money for four-kanal amenity plot at phase-4 was being sold for Rs 250 million which was beyond power of purchase of the owners of average standard local private schools.
Flanked by other representatives including Ahmad Ali Marwat, Muhammad Tariq, Mr Hussain said that such auctions has been held in recent past but no one was in the financial position to take part in the bidding due to sky high rates. He said the provincial assembly had passed a law in 1992 to offer plots for schools on reasonable rates but the incumbent government is not following the policy opted by preceding governments.
The NEC chief feared that if the government failed to offer plots on reasonable rates then the schools owners would be compelled to raise monthly fee and at the end students' parents would suffer.
Besides, he asked the provincial government to implement the resolution (619) adopted by the provincial assembly 2006 for provision of the plots to schools owners on easy installments without auction.
Mr Hussain said that as per provincial assembly resolution the provincial government had already provided plots for schools and there were several examples. He said the auction of amenity plots would be in violation of the resolution of the provincial assembly and injustice with the schools owners and parents as well.
He said that various localities at Kohat, Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, Karak, Abbottabad, Shaikh Maltoon and Kanju Township had the amenity plots and if PDA succeeded in its auction plan then the people in other districts would also suffer.