On January 1, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday inaugurated India’s first all-girls Sainik School in Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura district and called it a “golden moment in the history of women empowerment”. The school is named Samvid Gurukulam Girls Sainik School. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday dedicated the school for all girls in the country.

Yogi On Women empowerment and National Unity

The CM of Uttar Pradesh was present during the inauguration programme. Here, he gave a long speech about the need for national unity, women’s education in the armed forces and the importance of empowering women, their dignity and self-reliance.

“A strong society is not possible without women’s empowerment. For this, we all will have to work together. The society will have to be brought out of its conservative mindset,” he said.

According to Yogi, When 140 crore Indians will take up the task of protecting India’s honour, pride and glory, no power on earth will be able to stop them.

Even if everyone’s responsibilities were different, He spoke of working with determination to raise India’s prestige globally.

Idea dates back to 2018

The CM talked about his initiative to start enrolling girl students at Sainik School, Lucknow, in 2018. The Defence Minister in 2019 approved the admission of girl children to Sainik Schools from the 2021-22 academic session in a phased manner. The decision was taken following the success of the pilot project started by the Defence Ministry in Sainik School, Chhingchhip, in Mizoram.

Adityanath also said that the tradition of Sainik schools in UP started in 1960 when Dr Sampoornanand was the CM. He established the first Sainik School in Lucknow. At that time He visited the school in 2017 as president of the school committee. “When I came to know that girls are not admitted there, I said that from the next session girls should also be admitted to the school. This programme started in 2018.”

“Sainik School Lucknow has also been fortunate that the highest medal of service to the country, Param Vir Chakra, was awarded to one of its students, Manoj Pandey, who attained martyrdom while protecting the country in the Kargil war,” he said.

Objectives

As per the Defense Ministry’s announcement, the inauguration of the Samvid Gurukulam Girls Sainik School marks a significant milestone. It is the inaugural all-girls Sainik School, hosting approximately 870 students.

This establishment is part of the broader initiative to establish 100 new Sainik schools through collaboration with NGOs, private entities, and state government schools across all states and Union territories.

The objectives behind the vision of setting up 100 new Sainik schools are to provide quality education to the students in tune with the National Education Policy 2020 and give them better career opportunities, including joining the armed forces. The ministry stated that these new establishments are supplementary to the 33 existing Sainik schools operating under the previous pattern.

According to the statement, the private sector will also be able to collaborate with the government in joint efforts to build the nation.

About Training and seat intake

Affiliated with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the school will provide education and training under the guidance of ex-servicemen. The institution plans to offer 120 seats, emphasizing a curriculum that integrates the principles of the National Education Policy (NEP) to offer comprehensive and quality education.

Defence Minister on empowering Women in Defence

Speaking on the occasion, the Defence Minister said, “Under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government has given women their rightful place in the armed forces, which was neglected for years. They have the right to protect the nation just like their male counterparts. It was a golden moment in the history of women’s empowerment when we approved the admission of girls to Sainik Schools. Today, our women are not only flying fighter jets, they are also securing the borders.”

Mr. Singh termed the new shool as a “beacon of light” for girls who aspire to join the Armed Forces and serve their native land. Under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government has given women their rightful place in the Armed Forces, which was neglected for years,” says the defence minister.

In his address, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also acknowledged the significant contribution of Hindu nationalist ideologue Sadhvi Ritambhara to the Ram Temple movement.