Punjab Govt releases Rs 12 crore for ‘Sikhya Kranti’ drive

The Education Department has released Rs 12.54 crore for expenses incurred on the inauguration of upgraded school infrastructure in the state.

The amount was released as the government's 'Sikhya Kranti' initiative is nearing its completion on May 31.

Of the total amount, Rs 6.20 crore has been sanctioned for primary schools and Rs 5.71 crore for middle, high and senior secondary schools.

The amount has been sanctioned weeks after the school heads had to spend from their own pockets to get plaques made, arrange tents, snacks for VIPs and other arrangements for the inauguration ceremonies.

Under the campaign, a 54-day-long exercise was started on April 7 to inaugurate upgraded school infrastructure in over 10,000 schools. A total of Rs 20 crore was kept for the drive.

During the drive, complaints had poured from across the state alleging that separate inauguration plaques had been installed for the repair of boundary walls, classrooms and washrooms.

As per the Education Department, 6,812 schools got new or repaired boundary walls while 5,399 new classrooms were added. As many as 7,166 toilets were built in 4,889 schools.