Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday urged Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to immediately approve the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) for Sainik School, Dalla Gorian in Gurdaspur district, and also sanction a third Sainik School at Bathinda.
Amarinder Singh, in a letter to the Union Minister, said that the state government would sign the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) for the third Sainik School as soon as the approval of the Defence Ministry is received.
In an official statement, the Chief Minister said that the state government has allotted 40 acres of land at Dalla Gorian in Gurdaspur district to establish Punjab's 2nd Sainik School and the Memorandum of Agreement has also been signed and submitted to the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare in the Ministry of Defence.
However, he said this shall not, in his opinion, suffice to meet the aspirations of the Punjabi youth.
Emphasising on the need for at least one Sainik School each in the Malwa, Doaba and Majha regions, the three natural geographical divisions of the state, he said it was felt that a third Sainik School in Bathinda will suitably cater to this requirement.
The Chief Minister noted that Sainik Schools are prestigious institutions that have consistently maintained the highest standards in imparting education to children across the country.
For many years, he said, these schools have groomed youth into responsible citizens and many key positions in the Armed Forces are today manned by the alumni of these schools.
"Sainik School, Kapurthala is at present the only Sainik School in Punjab, established way back in 1961. The youth of Punjab have always displayed an exemplary zeal to join the Armed Forces and to serve the nation. There is, thus, an urgent need to establish additional Sainik schools in the State," stressed the Chief Minister.
( With inputs from ANI )
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