Ahead of the Assembly polls later this year, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Wednesday launched a programme to provide free laptops to about 20,000 meritorious students under Srinivasa Ramanujan Student Digital Scheme at a function in Mandi town.
A sum of Rs 83 crore has been spent on this. All the ministers attended the event in their respective districts and distributed laptops among students. All the Ministers attended the event in their respective districts and distributed laptops to the meritorious students on the occasion.
"An educated citizen is the biggest asset of a democratic society. The feat of the students would motivate the others to excel in education. Himachal Pradesh has made unprecedented progress in education," the Chief Minister said while addressing the gathering. He said the state has surpassed Kerala in several parameters in the field of education, which is an honour for all.
Thakur said the state government was giving topmost priority to provide quality education, with focus on educating girls. "In earlier days people took girl education casually, but now the time has changed and girls were excelling more than the boys in studies. This has ensured women empowerment," he stated.
He said the coronavirus pandemic had delayed the distribution of the laptops.
He said laptops provided by the State Government to the students would go a long way in assisting the students in their studies. The Chief Minister said that the State Government has opened a new State University in Mandi to facilitate the students of nearby districts to get higher education nearer to their homes, adding that this University would start functioning with full strength at the earliest.
Thakur also interacted with the meritorious students of different districts and also released a Booklet brought out by the Directorate of Education on the occasion. He also released Signature song of ‘Aazadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’. The song has been composed and sung by Dr. Gopal Krishan, Prof. Surender Sharma, Dr. Satish Thakur, Dr. Lal Chand and Dr. Hem Raj.
A documentary ‘Shiksha Ke Naye Aayam’ highlighting the achievements and milestones the State has achieved in the field of education was also screened on the occasion.