Delhi govt's Armed Forces Preparatory School to be named after Bhagat Singh: Arvind Kejriwal

Arvind Kejriwal. File Pic

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that the Delhi government's upcoming school to prepare students for the armed forces will be named after freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.

The school will come up at a 14-acre campus in Jharoda Kalan with state-of-the-art facilities.

On the eve of the death anniversary of Bhagat Singh, the chief minister said, "It is the 23rd of March tomorrow, the day of martyrdom of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh. "It was on this day in the year 1931 that our great freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev were hanged to death by the British. All three of them sacrificed their lives for the country, to fight for the freedom of our people."

On December 20 last year, the Cabinet had taken a decision and declared that a new and different type of school in Delhi will be built where students will be trained in their early years to enlist in the armed forces, he said. Training will be provided to these students so that they can enrol in the NDA, the Navy and the Air Force. All the students will be prepared to become defence officers in future in this specialised school, he said. "It will be named after Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh, 'Shaheed Bhagat Singh Armed Forces Preparatory School'," he said in an online briefing.

It will be a residential school and students will not be charged any fees, the chief minister said. "The school will admit students to classes 9 and 11. There will be 200 seats -- 100 in each class. We have already received 18,000 applications for 200 seats," he said. An aptitude test will be conducted on March 27 for admission to Class 9. The test for enrolment for class 11 will be held the next day. In the second phase, interviews will be conducted of the shortlisted candidates, he said. "It will be a residential campus, with separate hostels for boys and girls. A 14-acre stretch of land in Jharoda Kalan has been allotted for the development of this campus, where this new and improved school will be built.

"The way ideal training for officer-like qualities is provided in the armed forces to young men and women, similar qualities will be imbibed in these students; and hence they will be prepared for NDA, Naval Academy, and other armed services in future. Expert faculty will be employed for optimum training of these students, which will include retired veterans from the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force," he said. The CM said this initiative is a unique tribute to Bhagat Singh by the people of Delhi.

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