In the Absence of Due Funding from the Government, Cadet College Palandri will Gradually Collapse

I express serious concerns about the future of the Cadet College Palandri (CCP), a unique Institute in the country. This Institute was commissioned in 1998 under the patronage of the Azad Kashmir (AK) government (govt). I served in this Institute as a Principal from March 2014 to December 2022. Within a short period, it contributed massively towards nation-building. Besides other professions, over 300 cadets of this Institute from middle and lower-middle-class backgrounds have been commissioned in the Armed Forces of Pakistan.

But unfortunately, due to the indifferent attitude of the AK govt towards this Institute, it is financially crumbling. Despite well-defined Rules of the College (1995), in which the pay and pension of the ‘Board Employees’ was the duty of the AK govt, it is unwilling to provide requisite finances to protect the pay/pension of the employees and continued to compel me to arrange finances from within the College resources by increasing the fee structure which was just not possible. I want to highlight that around 165 ‘Board Employees’ enrolled in the College between 1998 to 2000 are likely to retire by the end of 2027/2028 but their future is still unpredictable. As a former Principal, I am concerned/ worried about their future because if the present trends at the AK govt level continue, they are unlikely to get regular pay/ due pension at the time of their retirement.

As Principal, I did not leave any stone unturned to register my concerns with the AK govt. I struggled for eight long years to make the govt realize that the pay/pension of the employees who were enrolled around 25 years back are at stake.  Yet, instead of supporting my arguments, the relevant quarters continue to mount pressure for making amendments to the existing Rules of the College without protecting the future of around 165 ‘Board Employees’. During my stay as Principal CCP, I approached all the relevant forums on more than a dozen occasions including the Executive Committee led by the Hon’ble Chief Secretary of AK, the Board of Governors, led by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of AK, the local political leadership of the District Sudhnuti including Dr. Najib Naqi, the former Finance Minister of AK govt but none have come forward to protect the legal rights of the College. Since April 2014, I continued to struggle and conducted ‘JIHAD’. The formal requests that I made to the relevant forums have been put on the record of the CCP.  Besides pay/pension issues, even the College infrastructure including married accommodation, classrooms, Cadets’ Recreation Hall, and College Central Library is still incomplete and requires colossal investment.

I express with a heavy heart that I have made the continuous struggle for over 8 long years to make the above-referred key forums realize that the College must be financially supported by the govt as per the CCP Rules so that minimum financial pressure is put on the parents/guardians of the cadets who all come from middle-class society. If the tuition fee is increased beyond a certain level, the middle/lower middle class of the society will be eliminated from the CCP and that will be a great setback. It is beyond doubt that the political leadership has a special responsibility toward the welfare of the middle-class society of AK and Pakistan by providing sufficient financial support to the CCP as defined in the College Rules. But, it is so unfortunate that education is probably not the priority of the political leadership of AK. In other words, probably, the political leadership is not prepared to promote the middle/lower middle class of the country because they might challenge the hegemony of the ruling class in the near future.

I had the great honor to serve the middle-class society of the country by maintaining the lowest possible fee structure for 8 long years and helping them in educating their sons/wards in CCP. But due to uncontrolled inflation, and the govt’s failure to provide the due financial share, I decided not to increase the fee and quit honorably. There is no way that the CCP could continue for long without the due financial share of the govt. Increasing fees beyond a certain level by any Principal would lead to the collapse of the College as most probably, a large number of parents/guardians would be compelled to take out their sons/wards from the College due to financial pressure.

I once again reiterate that since the CCP is giving a great service to the nation, therefore, it must be financially protected at all costs. I also give a wake-up call to the local leadership, the civil society of AK in general, and the District Sudhnuti in specific to move and compel the govt to honor its commitments which are well defined in the College Rules to avoid the collapse of this prestigious Institute.

Finally, it is also very important to highlight that the CCP was established at Palandri as welfare measures, in recognition of the sacrifices made by the people of this area during the War of Independence of 1947, the Indo-Pak War of 1965, and 1971. The leadership of the 1990s was wise enough to understand the financial limitations of the local population which is why, these Rules were framed deliberately to protect the interests of the local population. If our local leadership/civil society fails to protect and run this Institute efficiently, our future generation would not pardon them. I have done my bid of informing all, hence I will not be responsible if anything goes wrong with this College, its hard-working ‘Teaching Staff’, and other employees.

I also extend my good wishes to the incoming Principal and pray that this College should make progress and achieve the highest academic targets. I also wish very good luck to my beloved cadet/kids and their parents and my apology to the parents/guardians of the cadets for any mistake that I might have committed unwittingly and also request to the parents of the cadets that they should pray for me that I continue to contribute towards nation-building as a thinker/scholar.

About Author: Brig (Retd) Dr. Khurshid Khan, SI (M), is the former Principal of the CCP