Union Minister Jitendra Singh distributes laptops to females students in his constituency in J-K

Jammu, Oct 22 (PTI) Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Tuesday distributed laptops for free to meritorious female students in his parliamentary constituency, saying it was the best Diwali gift for enabling ease of education and preparation for competitive examinations.

Singh said in the past 11 years, the Narendra Modi government has ensured ease of education for students in view of their rising aspirations.

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has given students the freedom to choose subjects according to their aptitude, he said.

"It is Diwali. On this auspicious occasion, this is the best gift to meritorious students to bring ease in their education and studies. As we talk about ease of business and ease of living, this is about ease of education and preparation for competitive examinations. These girls are from far-flung areas," Singh told reporters after distributing laptops.

He said the Modi government has introduced several schemes for women, and on the occasion of Diwali, laptops could be the ideal gift for meritorious girl students.

Singh felicitated girls from the five districts under his Lok Sabha constituency who topped in the class 10 board examinations by presenting a laptop each from his personal resources.

Some of the girls, who hailed from far-flung areas like Chhatroo and Padar in Kishtwar, and Pogal in Ramban, were invited to the Union minister's Trikuta Nagar residence for breakfast.

Students today are no longer prisoners of their parents' choice of subjects, Singh said, adding they now enjoy the freedom to make choices from a broad range of options, depending on their aptitude and evolving preferences. "There is true democratisation of opportunities and aspirations in this country today," he said.

Singh said he was prompted to start this novel tradition of felicitating and facilitating girl students after learning from his experience in the ministries that deal with students and youth.

He revealed that out of around 1.75 lakh registered start-ups in India today, nearly 50,000 to 60,000 are women-led. "As for civil services examinations, even this year all three all-India toppers were girls, while in the 2022 Civil Services Exam, the 11th all-India topper was a girl from Poonch Degree College." Even in the space sector, important projects like Aditya-L1 and Chandrayaan-3 had women in leading roles, Singh noted.

Urging students to leverage technology for their academic growth and for the betterment of society, the Union minister said the government has ensured democratisation of opportunities for students belonging to all sections of society and all genders. PTI AB AB NSD NSD