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Punjab: ₹4-crore projects to boost infra in border schools
All schools in border areas to have modern infrastructure and additional teachers, over ₹2,000 crore is being spent to transform government schools, says school education minister Harjot Singh Bains
School education minister Harjot Singh Bains launched infrastructural works worth ₹4.25 crore under the Sikhya Kranti initiative in the border districts of Amritsar and Tarn Taran on Wednesday. The work on some of those projects has been completed and they were dedicated to schools.
Bains said over ₹2,000 crore is being spent to transform government schools with 12% of the total expenditure in Punjab’s 2025-26 budget allocated to education, the highest in history. All border-area schools would receive modern infrastructure and additional teachers, with over 300 new teachers being already deployed in the past two years, he said.
During his visit to schools in border areas, Bains inaugurated works worth ₹32.02 lakh, including seven renovated classrooms and a toilet block worth ₹23.38 lakh in Government Senior Secondary School (Girls), Tapiala, and a new classroom and a toilet block worth ₹8.64 lakh inGovernment Primary School, Tapiala, in the Rajasansi assembly constituency.
In Jheeta Kalan village that falls under the Attari assembly constituency, the minister dedicated three classrooms constructed at the cost of ₹48.7 lakh in Government Senior Secondary School and a boundary wall with a toilet block established with the cost of ₹8.14 lakh in Government Elementary School.
Bains also announced ₹29.32 lakh for the construction of two classrooms, a basketball court and a toilet block in Government Senior Secondary School (Girls), Mahan Singh Gate, in the Amritsar East assembly constituency.
Earlier, Bains visited schools near the international border in Khemkaran (Tarn Taran), inaugurating ₹3.07-crore worth of projects, including smart classrooms, science labs and boundary walls. After inaugurating facilities in villages like Kals, Mastgarh, Mehndipur, Khemkaran and Wan Tara Singh, located just 20 metres from the Pakistan border. He emphasised that the Punjab government’s ambitious Punjab Sikhya Kranti was launched from the revolutionary land of Khatkar Kalan in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district on April 7. He also announced a ₹20-lakh grant for the government school in Mehndipur.
He revealed that ₹35 crore has been spent on infrastructure development in government schools in the Khemkaran assembly constituency alone.
Cheema dedicates ₹1.09-crore projects in Dirba
Cheema said the previous SAD-BJP and Congress-led governments neglecting the education sector, which resulted in proliferation of private schools and made quality education unaffordable for many. Highlighted AAP’s focus on reforms, he said teachers received advanced training at prestigious institutions, including IIT-Ahmedabad, and in countries like Singapore and Finland. Around 200 students from government schools cleared the JEE Mains exam this year, he said, adding that the services of 20,000 teachers was regularised.
₹84.36-lakh projects in Lehragaga schools
Cabinet minister Barinder Kumar Goyal inaugurated school projects worth ₹84.36 lakh in in the Lehragaga assembly constituency. The Government Middle School in Karail village got ₹33.03-lakh worth of infrastructure, the Government Middle School in Alampur saw an expenditure of ₹23.90 lakh on additional classrooms and boundary walls while the Government Senior Secondary School in Bakhora Kalan invited ₹19.73-lakh works. The Government High School in Alisher got ₹7.70 lakh for reconstruction of boundary walls and toilet blocks.
