Wapda releases Rs29m for schools in Diamer district

The Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) has provided Rs29 million for schools in Diamer district of Gilgit-Baltistan, The News International reported, without breaking the allocation down further.

The report said the money is for educational institutions in the district, but did not name the schools that will receive it, state how the funds will be divided, or say when the money would be released.

Diamer is one of the districts of Gilgit-Baltistan and lies along the Karakoram Highway south of Gilgit. Wapda is the executing agency for the Diamer-Bhasha dam on the Indus in the same district, and it is the federal body responsible for the country's large hydropower projects. The report did not say whether the school allocation is tied to the dam project, falls under a community or corporate responsibility programme, or is a separate grant.

Nor did it identify the department or authority that will oversee the spending, the basis on which schools were selected, or whether the Rs29 million is new money or part of a package announced earlier.

Skardu Times could not independently verify the allocation. The report quoted no named Wapda official and gave no detail about the schools concerned, their level, their location within the district, or how many pupils they serve.

Spending on schools in Diamer draws attention because access to education in the district's scattered settlements depends on how far pupils must travel, whether buildings are usable and whether staff are posted there. The report addressed none of these points.

The News International was the only outlet in the desk's search carrying the item, and no statement from the Gilgit-Baltistan government or the district education office accompanied it.

Education in Gilgit-Baltistan is administered under the region's own arrangements rather than through a provincial government of the kind that runs the country's four provinces, and the report did not say which tier of administration requested or approved the money.