CM inaugurates state’s first Saathi Centre in Khatima
Garhwal Post Bureau
Khatima, 1 Sep: Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami today inaugurated the Saathi Centre at Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Government Post Graduate College in Khatima in collaboration with IIT Kanpur. This is the first Saathi Centre to be established in Uttarakhand. Addressing the gathering on this occasion, the CM observed that the social and economic development of any nation rests upon the quality of its education. He asserted that it was with this vision that Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced the National Education Policy in 2020, marking a historic step towards comprehensive reform of the country’s education system.
Dhami added that through this policy, students are receiving support not only in job-oriented education but also in preparing for competitive examinations. He added that Project Saathi, launched in 2023 under the Prime Minister’s leadership, seeks to provide quality education and equal opportunities to students across the nation.
Dhami stated that under this initiative, professors from reputed institutions such as IIT and IISC are conducting online classes to prepare students for competitive examinations. At present, the project is offering guidance for crucial entrance and competitive examinations including engineering, medical, banking, railway, and CLAT to students from all sections of society, including those hailing from remote areas and economically weaker backgrounds. It was announced that the newly inaugurated centre at Khatima will provide offline coaching and mentoring facilities to eighty students.
The CM also asserted that the facility would directly benefit talented students of Khatima and adjoining rural areas. He added that more than fifteen lakh students across the country have so far benefited from Project Saathi. In Uttarakhand, nearly twenty-nine thousand students have joined the initiative and last year over five hundred of them succeeded in various examinations with the assistance of this platform. He claimed that the state government is making continuous efforts to strengthen the education system. Under the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020), steps are being taken to introduce advanced courses such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Big Data in universities and research institutions of the state. Work is also in progress to promote scientific research through the establishment of Science Cities and Astro Parks.
Dhami also stated that while infrastructure in colleges is being upgraded, nine new colleges are also being set up. Through the Chief Minister’s Research Promotion Scheme, research grants of up to Rs 18 lakhs are being extended to professors serving in state universities and colleges. In addition, the government is granting incentive awards for the publication of high-quality research papers.
Present on the occasion were Higher Education Minister Dhan Singh Rawat, MP Ajay Bhatt, Municipal President Ramesh Chand Joshi, Minister of State (Lal Batti holder) Anil Kapoor Dabbu, Higher Education Secretary Ranjit Kumar Sinha, Director, Higher Education, BN Khali, Director, IIT Kanpur, Maninder Agarwal, District Magistrate Nitin Singh Bhadauria, SSP Manikant Mishra and Principal Pankaj Kumar along with several public representatives, the faculty members and the students.
