CM honours 126 meritorious students of State

CM honours 126 meritorious students of State

           
                        Education is top priority of State Govt.
           
                        Free netbooks/laptops being provided to 10000 meritorious students
           
                        Decision to post music teachers in all schools phase wise


Vijyender Sharma

Shimla----While presiding over the 'Medhavi Chaatr Samman Samaroh', a function organised to honour the meritorious students at hotel Peterhoff today, Chief Minister Shri Virbhadra Singh said that it was a matter of great pride for him to honour the students who had achieved excellence and stood in merit, in the tenth and plus two examinations of both Government and private schools conducted by the State Education Board.  He appreciated efforts of the Amar Ujala group for organizing such function and contributing towards social cause by supplementing the efforts of the Government. 

            The Chief Minister also distributed prizes to the children and said that honouring meritorious students was in itself a great moment of honour for him.

            As many as 126 students were distributed prizes on the occasion, including those from the state, who had secured top ranking in JEE exams. 

            He said that Himachal Pradesh had achieved excellence in field of education, and today there were more than 15534 schools in Government Sector whereas the private schools were also no less in contributing towards education to the youth. "My priority was to make Himachal an Educational hub and as of today there were 115 degree colleges in the State and we have achieved 88 percent literacy rate which was second highest in the country after Kerala", he said.

             He said that education should be the top priority of any state, besides health, roads and social welfare. "I always welcome the private educational institutes of repute who were providing quality education to the youth of the State", he said. He further added that many posts of teachers were also being filled. He said that the Government had decided to post music teachers in all the schools of the State phase wise. 

            Chief Minister said that Government schools in far-flung areas were being extended all facilities and the Government was committed to provide all those facilities to the students of Government schools as was being given by many good private schools. "Education is my top priority and I want that the standard of Government schools be raised to that of many private reputed schools" he said. 

            He said that the State government was also providing free net books/lap tops to as many as 10,000  meritorious students of 10th and plus two under Rajiv Gandhi Digital Yojana. Besides, a sum of Rs 75000 was being provided to the Himachali students who seek admissions in Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Indian Institute of Management (IIM) and AIIMS like institutions. 

            Earlier, Senior Executive Editor, Amar Ujala, Shri Uday Kumar welcomed and honoured the Chief Minister.  He also detailed about the function, which he said was being organised since 2003 in Himachal Pradesh to honour the meritorious students and in seven other states of the country. He also exhorted the students to excel in all fields besides academics. 

            Resident Editor, Shri Daya Shankar Shukl Sagar also addressed on the occasion and welcomed the Chief Minister. 

            Irrigation and Public Health Minister, Smt. Vidya Stokes,  Information and Public Relations and Industries Minister, Shri Mukesh Agnihotri, Urban Development Minister, Shri Sudhir Sharma, PCC president, Shri Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Chief Secretary, Shri V.C. Pharka, Pro-Vice Chancellor, APG University, Shri Ashwani Kumar,  Vice-Chancellor, HPU, Prof. ADN Bajpai, Director Information and Public Relations, Shri Dinesh Malhotra, Director, Higher Education, Shri Dinkar Burathoki, Medical Superintendent, IGMC, Dr. Ramesh Chand were also present on the occasion amongst others. 

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