Rahul, Mulayam want Sainik schools for their constituencies

A political tussle appears to be on cards, with Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav both wanting a Sainik School in their respective constituencies in Uttar Pradesh. 

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, after much cajoling by the Centre, had submitted a proposal to the defence ministry early last year to open a Sainik School in his father Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Lok Sabha constituency in Mainpuri district. Apart from 49 acres of land, the Samajwadi Party government had also allocated Rs 1 crore as the initial corpus for raising the school.

Now, Rahul Gandhi has shown interest to have a Sainik School in Amethi. Congress sources said Gandhi had recently asked the defence ministry to take up the matter with the UP government given the fact that people of his constituency are demanding to have such a school which provides quality education without charging hefty fees.

A Congress leader also stated that many from Amethi district have been joining armed forces as well. 

The UP government proposal for the school has been in principle accepted by the defence ministry after its officials returned satisfied with demarcated land inspection carried out on August 19, 2013, in Mainpuri.

The UP government, however, recently received a recommendation from the Centre to forward a proposal for setting up such a secondary education institution in Amethi.  
Sainik School is opened on the request of a state and since UP’s application has already got a go ahead nod, it would be difficult for Akhilesh Yadav to entertain a request from Rahul, said SP sources.

Other than that, it will be politically disadvantageous for Akhilesh Yadav to abort vote drawing scheme in their pocket borough ahead of Lok Sabha elections and hand it over on a platter to Congress vice president, the sources added.  
 
All these years, UP did not have Sainik School which 24 other states and Union territories have due to lack of funds, the Samajwadi party government had informed a parliamentary standing committee on defence. The report will be tabled in the next session.

The school comes under the state but the defence ministry only provides some staff and their salary, grant-in-aid for infrastructure development and scholarship to children of armed forces personnel.