With educational institutions remaining closed for about five months now, the ‘School Chalo’ programme is gaining popularity in the Valley. a file photo

Awantipora/New Delhi, Nov 6After ‘Operation Calm Down’ in south Kashmir, the Army is now focusing on another operation —‘School Chalo’, under which it identifies areas and provides students with free coaching and make them participate in extra-curricular activities.“We know we have to deal with the situation on the internal front and we are doing that with the desired results. During my interaction with locals, I felt they were worried about the studies of their children, but at the same time anxious about their security. That is when I asked my boys to work out a plan for providing education to students,” says Maj Gen Ashok Narula, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Victor Force.The Army had launched Operation Calm Down in August-September to clear various parts of the Valley of militants and protesters using minimum force.With educational institutions remaining closed for about five months now and over 30 schools being burnt down over the past weeks, Major General Narula’s directions under the ‘School Chalo’ programme is becoming increasingly popular in the Valley.Various formations under his command have started identifying teachers in localities, urging them to hold classes in schools or community houses to impart education to children, who have been deprived of it ever since the unrest broke out on July 9 this year, a day after Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter.“Besides being an Army officer, I am the father of two children. So here I approached the issue as a father and not as an Army officer and ensured that these children should hold books in their hands, rather than a stone,” the GOC said.Using a local slogan, ‘chyem ne zaroorat daulat-o-rubab, faqat gochum school te kitab (I don’t need money and fame, I need books and school)’, Army officers and men now perform a different kind of task — to convince the parents to send their children to makeshift dwellings to study.The Army officer cited the performance of 292 students of Army Goodwill School, Pahalgam, who were being taught by well-qualified teachers.“Unhindered by the turmoil which has engulfed the state, these students have not only finished and revised their syllabus but have also participated wholeheartedly in various functions like Eid and Independence Day. These (activities) were also the reasons given to parents in other localities to convince them to send in their children,” said Major General Narula. — PTI