SRINAGAR: In one of the remotest corners of Jammu and Kashmir, the construction of the Government Degree College (GDC) Marwah building in Kishtwar district remains incomplete more than a decade after it was first approved. Despite funds being released and repeated tendering, the project has seen little progress, with the structure currently complete only up to the lintel level.
According to official information tabled in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, the project, being executed by the Jammu and Kashmir Police Housing Corporation (JKPHC), has an approved cost of Rs 1,389.80 lakh. By the end of March 2025, a total expenditure of Rs 779.16 lakh had been incurred, with Rs 50 lakh released during the current financial year 2025–26. However, no expenditure has been recorded so far this year.
Officials said that after the completion of the structural part of the building, tenders for the remaining works were floated several times but had to be cancelled each time due to “inadequate documentation” by the participating bidders. The tendering process has now been initiated for the fifth time and is currently under way.
The executing agency, JKPHC, has informed the government that the balance work will begin once all codal formalities are completed. The agency has set a target of 2026 for the completion of the project.
A supplementary note from the Higher Education Department explained that GDC Marwah is located at Dehraie, about 250 kilometres from Kishtwar town, in a region that remains cut off from the rest of the district for most of the year due to snowbound and hilly terrain. This, the department said, limits the working season to only about three months annually, significantly slowing the construction pace.
Meanwhile, the government also provided a status report on the construction of GDC Chhatroo, another long-pending project in the same district. The college, established in 2008, began construction in 2011 under the Jammu and Kashmir Projects Construction Corporation (JKPCC) at a cost of Rs 1,300 lakh. Of this, Rs 616.50 lakh were transferred to the executing agency.
However, the work was abruptly abandoned by JKPCC in August 2022 without any formal intimation to the Higher Education Department or the college authorities. Despite multiple directions from the Deputy Commissioner, Kishtwar, the agency did not resume work. Following the merger of JKPCC with the Public Works (R&B) Department in January 2024, the project was handed over to the R&B Department.
The R&B Department has now informed the government that the project cannot be completed within the original sanctioned cost due to cost escalation. The Chief Engineer, R&B Chenab Zone, has been asked to submit a detailed proposal for a revised project cost and a feasible completion plan so that the department can take a final decision.
The Minister in charge of the Higher Education Department confirmed that both projects remain under close review and that efforts are being made to ensure their completion “within the revised timelines.”
