The North News
Nawanshehar, April 7
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Monday announced a ₹2,000 crore investment to advance the state’s flagship education initiative, ‘Sikhiya Kranti’. Describing it as a new chapter in Punjab’s education reform, Mann said the funding aims to transform the quality of schooling and modernise government-run institutions across the state.
“Our aim is to build a system where quality public education becomes the norm, not the exception,” Mann told the crowd. “Schools of Eminence across the state are delivering on that promise.”
The Chief Minister criticised previous governments for neglecting public education, alleging that political elites historically sent their children to elite private schools, leaving state-run institutions to decay into little more than midday meal distribution centres. “We are changing that narrative,” he said.
Punjab’s government, Mann noted, has already recruited staff to handle non-teaching responsibilities, allowing educators to concentrate fully on students. Teachers are being sent abroad and to premier Indian institutions for skill development. “It’s no surprise our schools are now seeing record admissions,” he said.
Mann also highlighted the state’s new School Mentorship Programme, under which IAS and IPS officers will voluntarily adopt rural schools for five years, regardless of their official postings. “They won’t act as bosses, but as mentors—preparing students for competitive exams and supporting teachers with resources and training,” he said.
The initiative forms part of a broader strategy linking education and youth empowerment to social reform. More than 54,000 government jobs have been distributed on merit, and a parallel campaign—‘Yudh Nasheyan Virudh’—has targeted Punjab’s drug crisis through policing and prevention.
“Smugglers are being put behind bars, and their illegally acquired properties are being seized,” Mann said. “We will not allow Punjab’s youth to be sacrificed to addiction.”
Addressing the event, former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia praised the state’s education gains, claiming over 12,000 government schools had been transformed in the last three years. “From just three years ago to today, 29 lakh children are now learning in state-of-the-art classrooms,” he said.
Sisodia also criticised Delhi’s newly formed government for what he called a reversal of educational equity. “Fees in private schools are being doubled. Meanwhile, Punjab is empowering its poor through public education.”
MP Malwinder Singh Kang, MLAs Dr Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi and Nachattar Pal, and Education Secretary Anindita Mitra were also present. .
