While students all across the country strive really hard throughout their secondary educational years to crack the national level competitive exam (NEET) with the help and guidance of experienced faculties in the stream, a girl named Mehwish Zahoor from the far-flung region Gurez, Bandipora has earned herself a seat in the medical college.
Divisional Commissioner Bandipora, Dr Owais felicitated Ms Mehwish Zahoor, a young tribal girl from Gurez , for meritorious performance in NEET 2022 by securing 652 Marks and getting an AIR – 16 (ST).
Mehwish is the only person from the tribal area Gurez, who has managed to get AIR among Toppers despite all the hardships.
Her Father Zahoor Ahmad Mapnoo says, her daughter has worked very hard to achieve this success, she wants to study Medicine and will soon Join GMC Srinagar/SKIMS Soura for her further Studies.
“In the Gurez valley where people used to abstain during the day in going out due to fear of cross border shelling, Girls like Mehwish are coming forward with the vision to develop the whole community.
After witnessing huge tourist flow in summers for the first time, the Gurez Valley in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district is yet again attracting the people from outside Jammu and Kashmir as some video clips have went viral on the social media platforms, in which the youth from the locality could be seen playing cricket over snow.
the video clips as well as the photographs of the cricket over snow in Gurez have even caught the eyes of the international cricket players.
The photographs and videos of snow cricket played on the frozen track at snow bound Gurez valley, which is cut-off since December following the snowfall and is likely to remain disconnected for a few more months, are presently viral on social media and are attracting attention of celebrities all over the world.
An Australian batting star, Marnus Labuschagne, who plays internationally for the Australian national team and domestically for Queensland also shared the video of young boys playing cricket over snow at Bagtore with a caption “how good is this”.
Fakhar-e-Alam, a famous Pakistani actor, TV host and a singer also shared the video of the cricket match played on a frozen track in Bandipora’s Bagtore sector of Gurez valley and wrote: “I wanna play cricket here with these guys….this looks so much fun..”
The video shared by Fakhar-e-Alam is actually from Bagtore in Gurez Valley, where local youth had recently organized a Cricket tournament in the snowy pitch.
However, the locals from Gurez after witnessing such a response from the people on the social media platforms, hoped that the local youngsters would get support from the BCCI and other international players.
Another video was shared by an Instagram User, showing the enthusiasm for cricket among the youth of Gurez Valley.
“Hope @BCCI @BCCIdomestic @IrfanPathan @ICC will support our younsters to perform on national and international level Gurez valley is full of talent needs little bit support from administration and Govt I assure starts will come from Gurez valley,” a local from Gurez wrote on Twitter.
Srinagar, Dec 25 (JKYouth) – The Block Development Chairperson (BDC) of Gurez is demanding the sanction of the Gurez-Bandipora Road Tunnel. Fameeda Begum, while speaking to a JKYouth reporter, raised several issues faced by the people of Gurez, Tulail, and Bagtore.
Gurez, renowned for its flora and fauna, sees its residents largely dependent on agricultural products. Due to heavy snowfall and glaciers, Gurez remains isolated from the rest of the world for over six months in winter, making the 86-kilometer journey through the Razdhan Pass to Bandipora impassable, she said.
The Jammu and Kashmir Administration must step forward to find a better solution for the hardships faced by the people of Gurez. The long-standing demand of a Road Tunnel must be addressed. I urge both the Central government and J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to intervene and sanction the Road Tunnel, she added.
BDC Gurez, Fameeda Begum, also demands a fairer electricity schedule for the people living in Gurez. In the 21st Century, Gurez residents receive only 4-5 hours of electricity through generators, despite the operation of the 330MW KishanGanga Hydroelectric Plant since May 19, 2018. Gurez should receive at least 2-3 MWs of electricity from this plant, she insisted. With this additional electricity, some of the hardships could be alleviated, and people might not need to migrate from Gurez to other cities during winters.
Additionally, she highlighted the lack of essential facilities at Degree College Gurez since its establishment, including WiFi, a library, a canteen, and a playground.
The cost of helicopter tickets, set at highly subsidized rates of Rs 3,000 from Srinagar airport and Rs 2,000 from Bandipora, is prohibitively high for the majority of Gurez’s daily wage earners. The government should reconsider and reduce airfare for the benefit of the people of Gurez.
Tourism needs to be prioritized, and the people are willing to collaborate with the administration to improve the future of their homeland. However, the government must also address these crucial issues faced by the people of Gurez, Tulail, and Bagtore.
Degree College was established in 2009 with only one stream(Bachelor of Arts), since then only the college building was upgraded.
The over all population of Gurez is 40 thousand, Gurez is divided into 3 parts(Bagtore, Gurez, Tulail), College is established in Wanpora village of Gurez Valley.
Students from Bagtore and Tulail travel around 40-60 kilometers to reach college for daily classes.
those who choose science or any-other stream except Arts have to move out of Gurez to complete their graduation and further studies.
People of Gurez have been demanding other streams into the college but no one has given ear to their voices.
While Prime Minister is focusing to take India towards Digitization, Students of Degree College Gurez lack all these basic facilities like Library, Canteen, Playground and Internet.
