Trust to set up 125 academic bodies in the North

The Kalgidhar Trust, based in Baru Sahib in Himachal Pradesh, will soon invest Rs 875 crore (excluding land price) in expansion, under which it plans to open 125 Akal Academies in rural areas, at least one in each block of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and UP.

The Trust runs popular Akal academies in North India. At present, more than 21,500 students are studying in 22 Akal Academies in the four states.

The Trust will open at least 20 such academies every year and the expenditure on each of the academies will be around Rs 7 crore, excluding the land price. A big chunk of their funding will come from NRIs. Even the land for the academies will be donated either by the respective village panchayats or NRIs.

Speaking to Business Standard, K S Sekhon, co-ordinator (science), Kalgidhar Trust, and former dean (post-graduate studies), Punjab Agricultural University, said these academies would be affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education and have classes till senior secondary level.

"There is a mismatch between the facilities of the urban and rural sectors and our Trust seeks to bridge the gap," he said.

In a conversation on the phone from abroad, Khem Singh Gill, chairman, Akal Academies, and former Vice-Chancellor, PAU, said the Trust had taken up the project of establishing 125 such Academies in the near future.

"The Punjab chief minister was keen to get the academies established in large numbers and had assured help. The panchayats and NRIs are coming forward to donate land," he added.