Jandial re-elected President, Vaid Gen Secy of J&K SKK
Brig (Dr) Rakesh Khajuria V.P
24/06/2025
Jammu, June 23 (KIP)- At the 42nd AGM of the J&K Samaj Kalyan Kendra, Jammu (SKK) held here today, K B Jandial was re-elected as its President and J K Vaid General Secretary unanimously for the next three years. This is Jandial’s 4th term as President and Vaid’s 7th term as General Secretary.
Brig ( Dr) Rakesh Khajuria ( R), nephew of the founder of the SKK late Dr. R R Khajuria, was unanimously elected as the Vice President while H N Raina and M N Sharma were re-elected as Secretary and Treasurer respectively.
On the demise of the Patron for life and the Founder, DR R R Khajuria, the AGM appointed his younger brother and former President, Inderjeet Khajuria as Patron for Life by amending the Bye-laws.
The Triennial election was conducted by the Election Commissioner/ Returning Officer B B Magotra. The proposal for the Office Bearers for the next tenure of three years was presented by Prem Gupta, Advisor SKK and was accepted by the members unanimously.
This well-known NGO is dedicated to the welfare of divyang (Deaf & Dumb) which was established on May 22, 1980 by late Dr. R R Khajuria, a veterinarian & former MD of Jammu Milk Supply Scheme, popularly called as Vinobha Bhave of Jammu. He had penchant for welfare of the physically challenged and other under privileged children especially deaf & dumb for whom he opened a school which was inaugurated by Begum Sheikh Abdullah in March 1981 as Pre-primary school in a small accommodation of a temple which has grown into a full-fledged Higher Secondary School exclusively for hearing handicapped with usual strength of 120 students. The School has sign language trained teaching faculty.
At the AGM, two very senior office bearers Er Vijay Bhagotra, Sr. Vice President and M L Sharma have retired from their positions due to health conditions. They were honoured with mementos, recalling their laudable contributions for the NGO and the divyang. Sharma is a founder member and was Vice President for the last 15 years while Er Bhagotra became Sr. Vice President in October 2010. Both have been associated with several other charitable Societies and contributed immensely for welfare of downtrodden and religious bodies.
The AGM approved the release of a three percent installment of DA to its staff from 1st April 2025.
Earlier, the General Secretary Vaid in his report to AGM, gave a detailed account of the growth of this institution from a room in a temple to higher secondary school and said that this journey has been quite rough but we managed to survive, and reached to a point where our divyang are showing, on regular basis, academic excellence with distinctions in Board examinations every year which made the SKK fraternity proud. He paid glowing tributes to the memory of the founder, late Dr. Khajuria and recalled his association with him and said his contributions for under-privileged sections of the society.
The President, Jandial listed out the activities of the year and said that for the first time, a contingent of 38 deaf & dumb students participated in this year’s Republic Day State Level function where they through sign language presented the national Anthem synchronizing their actions with the tune played by a police band before the Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha. These divyang were extremely happy by participating in the main function. He said while the SKK is awarding cash prizes to the class toppers of BOSE examinations, it has decided to award similar cash awards from this year to the senior teachers for the distinctions obtained by the students in their subjects.
Expressing gratitude to the Chairman of the SMVDSB, Manoj Sinha, Dr Ashok Bhan, member of the Board and the CEO Ansul Garg for their financial support to overcome SKK’s fiscal distress and hoped that patronage to the Divyang would continue in future as well. He however regretted that despite commitment made at the meeting chaired by the Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, the alternate land to the school has not yet been allotted. This issue has been pending for the last 30 years. He appealed to the members of SKK, whose number has increased to 124 with72 Life Members, to donate money in our bank accounts for running the school smoothly. He specially thanked Justice Permod Kohli and Manmohan Wahi for their liberal contribution of Rs. 50, 000/- each last year.
On the suggestion of Dr Ashok Bhan, the President said that the ITI will be approached to consider special vocational courses for these divyang to facilitate their placement in the private sector or launch their own Start-up.
The Treasurer M D Sharma presented the audited accounts of the year 2024-25. Earlier, the Secretary H N Raina welcomed the members to the 42rd AGM and apprised the functioning of the society & School.