Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan felicitates 398 students of Sirmaur district

Nahan, July 4

Minister for Industries, Parliamentary Affairs and Labour and Employment Harshwardhan Chauhan was the chief guest at the ‘Shining Star Award’ programme, held to honour meritorious students of Sirmaur district. During the event, he felicitated 398 students, including 270 girls from various schools who scored over 80 per cent marks in their exams.

Encouraging the students, the minister said education completed an individual and that acquiring good education was essential to become a well-rounded person. He urged teachers to provide qualitative education and focus on character-building. He highlighted the importance of discipline in achieving one’s goals and stressed that children needed to be physically and mentally strong to succeed in this competitive era.

Chauhan said the Himachal Pradesh Government was working diligently to uplift every section of society. The government’s goal included development of the underprivileged and backward sections as well as women and children, he said. Chauhan also talked about how the government had taken numerous decisions to prioritise children’s welfare and nutrition across the state.

The minister also announced that the state government had provisioned a subsidy of Rs 25,000 for 20,000 meritorious female students in the state to purchase e-bikes. Under the interest-free loan scheme, girls pursuing professional and technical education courses—including JBT, nursing, hotel management, MBBS, MBA, engineering, LLB and BEd — from families with an annual income of less than Rs 1 lakh were eligible for interest-free loans up to Rs 75,000.

Minister Chauhan said education laid a strong foundation for an individual’s life and that quality education was every child’s right. To ensure this, English medium instruction was being introduced in all government schools, he said. Additionally, the government plans on operating one Rajiv Gandhi Model Day Boarding School in each Assembly constituency, he said. Rs 250 million had been allocated for the construction of these state-of-the-art schools, equipped with modern technology in 18 constituencies. To further improve education, the top 10 schools in each category would be awarded at the state-level, and five schools in each district would be recognised for their performance, he said.

The event was attended by Sirmaur Assistant Commissioner Gaurav Mahajan, District Industries Centre General Manager Sakshi Satti, State Congress spokesperson Rupendra Thakur, among other dignitaries.