Prem Kumar Dhumal at the EXPRESS

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•DEEPSHIKHA BHARDWAJ: The standard of education has really gone down as far as the government schools in villages are concerned. Don’t you think it should be compulsory for the teachers to serve in remote, areas, the interiors, for two or three years?

We conducted a survey and found that we had 1,964 primary schools without a room. And 2,070 schools were there with only one room. So we started with Saraswati Bal Vidya Sankalp Yojna. We provided 13,672 rooms in the state primary schools. Within three years we raised a loan of Rs 126 crore from Nabard and this was followed by Sarva Shiksha Abhyan for middle and high schools. For teachers, a provision has been made in this year’s budget for the recruitment of 18,000 teachers in the state. We have also come up with a transfer policy: everybody will have to serve in hard areas for at least three years to qualify for the next promotion. So teachers, doctors and nurses, will be available in remote areas. For doctors we are making appointment, institution specific. They can draw a salary only after serving in hard areas.

(The transcript was prepared by Deepshikha Bhardwaj.)

editor@expressindia.com

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