Revolutionary leader of the Indian freedom movement, Bhagat Singh, is in the limelight again. In the run-up to the martyrdom day of Bhagat Singh on March 23, the Delhi government has renamed its own sainik school as Shaheed Bhagat Singh Armed Forces Preparatory School.
After AAP leader Bhagwant Mann was sworn in as the Punjab Chief Minister at Bhagat Singh's ancestral village, Khatkar Kalan, the Kejriwal government has announced the development of a special school for armed forces training at Jharoda Kalan in Najafgarh in the Delhi-NCR region.
"This is a way for the people of Delhi to pay tribute to Shaheed Bhagat Singh on his day of martyrdom. Specialised school to prepare students for armed forces to be built in Delhi. It will be named after Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh – ‘Shaheed Bhagat Singh Armed Forces Preparatory School. The school will have a capacity of a total of 200 seats with 100 seats for 9th and 11th class each. High quality training will be given to students by expert faculty and veteran officers from the armed forces will be employed as trainers. Students will be prepared to join the NDA, Naval Forces, and other armed services in future," said Kejriwal in a press statement.
"A 14-acre land in Jharoda Kalan has been allotted for development of this special school. Admissions are open to all students in Delhi, and 18,000 applications have already been received. Phase 1 of admissions is an aptitude test, which will take place on 27th March for 9th class, and on 28th March for 11th class. Phase 2 will include interviews, after which the final 200 students will be enrolled," added Kejriwal, also stating that admissions in this school and its facilities will be free for whoever wishes to join.
"The way ideal training for officer-like qualities is provided in the armed forces to young men and women, similar qualities will be imbibed in these students; and hence they will be prepared for NDA, Naval Academy, and other armed services in future," said Kejriwal.
There are 33 sainik schools in India right now, all are under the Central government. There is no sainik school in Delhi. But as part of its "Deshbhakti Budget" from last year, the Delhi government had included setting up of an Armed Forces Preparatory School on the lines of a sainik school. It is this particular school that is being renamed Shaheed Bhagat Singh Armed Forces Preparatory School.
Apart from prepping up children for the armed forces, the "Deshbhakti budget" with an allotment of Rs98 crore, also had commitments for installing 500 large national flags across the capital, events on the lives and legacies of B.R. Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh, apart from the flagship ‘Deshbhakti Curriculum’ in its schools. A special musical starring Ronit Roy on the journey of B.R. Ambedkar is still running in the city.
