The Banaskantha District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union Ltd that operates Banas Dairy in North Gujarat has submitted an application to the Union Ministry of Defence to allow it to set up a Sainik School in the state.
“We have made an application to the Ministry of Defence about 15 days ago. The Sainik School will be set up by Galbhabhai Patel Charitable Trust operated by the Banas Dairy. The board members of the dairy and the trust are the same,” Shankar Chaudhary, chairman of Banas Dairy, told The Indian Express.
“When I met Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently, he had told me that Banas Dairy should set up such a school. Ours is a border district and we want nationalism to grow among the population. Also, the children from this district are tall and strong,” Chaudhary, a former BJP minister, added.
If permission is granted, the proposed project will be the second Sainik School in the state after the one at Balachadi near Jamnagar set up in 1961 with a strength of 576 students from Class 6 to 12. Banas Dairy has earmarked Rs 20 crore for the project and is scouting for land near Palanpur.
“We are planning to enroll students from Class 5 to 12 with the strength of 50 in each class initially. With the change in policy of the government, we will enroll both boys and girls,” Chaudhary said adding that it will be among the 100-odd such schools that the Government of India proposed to set up across the country in October under public-private partnership.
Couple of days ago, the Banaskantha District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union floated an advertisement in newspapers inviting armed forces personnel of the ranks of Brigadier, Commodore, Air Commodore or senior ranks to work with the proposed new Sainik school.