Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said the state government would bear the cost of education of poor students of class 11 and 12 at Maharaja Ranjit Singh Armed Forces Preparatory Institute in Mohali.
The step was taken to facilitate aspiring economically backward students from the state to get into the armed forces, a government statement said.
The institute has tied up with a reputed private school in Mohali for education of students who clear its entrance examination.
Forty such students are currently selected for their senior secondary school education by the institute, but they are required to pay their own school fee of Rs 45,000 a year.
With the chief minister's directive, poor and deserving students who are admitted to the institute basis an entrance exam will also be able to join the Mohali school, the release said.
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To meet the additional expenses thus incurred, Singh also asked the Finance department to examine its proposal for additional funds of Rs 9.5 crore, in addition to Rs 8.5 crore, for making up the required corpus of Rs 18 crore.
In another move aimed at motivating and preparing youngsters to join the armed forces, the chief minister also directed the director general to formulate a proposal, in consultation with the secretary school education, to set up cadet training wings in select government schools, in line with the plan to establish such wsings in some private schools.
He also asked the Finance Department to sanction requisite funds to establish the cadet training wings at the selected private schools in Patiala, Mohali, Sangrur, Beas and Nabha to impart training to the students for joining the National Defence Academy.
Incidentally, the-state-of-the art institute was started in 2011 with an intake capacity of 40 students.
As many as 134 cadets have been sent to various service academies so far from the first seven batches.
The institute has been credited with securing All India Rank 1 in NDA merit list on two occasions, besides once Rank 1 in the merit list of Officers Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai.
Fifty-eight cadets have been commissioned as officers so far and 25 have joined various academies.
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