'Smart school policy' for upliftment of government schools in a week: Singla

Ludhiana, August 14 (000) - School Education and Public Works Minister Punjab Vijay Inder Singla has said that the Punjab Government is soon implementing a smart school policy, which will revamp almost all the government schools of the state.

He arrived here today to inaugurate the Government Smart Primary School at village Machhiwara Sahib and the Government Senior Secondary Smart School at village Mundia Kalan. He also laid the foundation stone of 'One Stop Center' to assist women at Civil Hospital Ludhiana.

Talking to reporters, Singla said that a policy was being brought by the education department, with the aim of developing all 19,000 schools in the state with the support of the people. Under this policy, 50 per cent of the financial support for schools will be funded by the government and 50 per cent by the local people. It is proposed to be implemented in the next week. With its implementation, the Department of Education will focus on the education and overall development of students.

Singla said that Punjab Government has decided to equip all schools in the state with solar energy panels under this policy. Solar power panels will be installed in each school, which will not only fulfil the school's electricity needs but will also provide a source of income for the schools by returning the surplus power. Similarly, biometric system and other facilities will be implemented to ensure proper attendance in schools.

He said that the online transfer policy brought by the department has been very successful. Under this policy, more than 6200 transfers have been made at the favourite places of teachers in the two rounds so far, while the third round is also being done soon. Are going to be under this policy.

He said that to prevent the alleged financial loot of the students and parents by the private schools, the school administrators have been instructed to not to pressurize any parents in the future to buy school uniforms, books or stationery etc. from a particular shop. Departmental and legal action will be taken against the schools that will violate these guidelines.

He invited the students to submit their old books to their respective schools after completion of the session. These old books can be useful to any needy student. A similar campaign is also being launched by the education department soon. He said that efforts were being made to create sports culture in schools to encourage the children towards sports.

He said that the repair work of the three major roads in the Machhiwara Sahib will be completed in the next four months, so about Rs, 28 crores are being released by the Punjab government. He also laid the foundation stone of 'One Stop Center' at Civil Hospital, Ludhiana. It is pertinent to mention that in this centre all types of assistance will be provided to women suffering from all kinds of grievances under one roof. The centre will cost Rs 45.5 lakh for which the tender process has been completed after the release of funds.

After that, Singla also inaugurated the unit of M/S Vivachem Intermediates Private Limited at Raikot, which was an ancillary unit of M/S IOL chemicals and pharmaceutical limited. This company is the largest producer of ibuprofen. While speaking on the occasion, Singla hailed the Industrial and Business Policy 2017, which has proven very beneficial for the industries and economical upliftment of state. He said that with the implementation of the new policy and under the dynamic leadership of Chief Minister Captain Amrinder Singh, the industry-friendly atmosphere has been created. Now industrial houses should come forward to invest in the state.

On this occasion, MP Shri Fatehgarh Sahib Mr Amar Singh, Samrala MLA Amrik Singh Dhillon, Ludhiana Central MLA Surinder Dawar, MLA from Ludhiana East Sanjay Talwar, Mayor of Municipal Corporation Ludhiana Balkar Singh Sandhu, Deputy Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Agrawal, Deputy Commissioner Ashwani Kapoor, Senior Congress Leader Satwinder Kaur Bitti, District Congress President Ashwani Sharma and others were present.