Punjab border area schools to reopen on Wednesday

Chandigarh, Oct 4: The Punjab government has ordered that schools in the border belt of the state would reopen from Wednesday

"All schools in border belt will open from tomorrow (Wednesday). These had been had been closed due to security reasons," Education Minister Daljit Singh Cheema said on Tuesday.

All schools, which were situated within the border area of 10 km from the international border with Pakistan, had been ordered closed on Thursday last week following the Indian Army's surgical strikes at the Line of Control (LoC) to destroy terror pads.

"This decision has been taken keeping in mind that the students are in the midst of the academic session and that their studies are being affected," Cheema said.

The Punjab government, based on directions from the Union Home Ministry, has also ordered the evacuation of villages in the border districts of Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Ferozepur, Tarn Taran and Fazilka.

Though thousands of people were evacuated, many of others refused to move out of their homes in the border villages, saying that they had to tend to their properties, crops and cattle.

Punjab shares a 553-km long international border with Pakistan.

IANS