A 200-year-old gurdwara in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, which was being used as a government high school for the last seven decades, has been handed back to the minority Sikh community after being restored by the provincial government.

The Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha on Masjid Road in the centre of Quetta was handed back officially to the Sikhs on Wednesday to use it for prayers and religious ceremonies, authorities said.

The gurdwara was used as a government high school for girls for the last 73 years.

Denesh Kumar, the provincial parliamentary secretary and adviser to the Balochistan chief minister on minority affairs, said that the gurdwara had been restored as a place of worship for the Sikhs.

He said the value of the 14,000 square-foot gurdwara was in billions of rupees at the current market value because of its central location, but the Balochistan government restored its status as a place of worship for the Sikhs.