Imphal, March 18 2009:: Sainik School, Imphal has scripted a sort of a history with seven of its cadets making it to the prestigious National Defence Academy for 2009, after a series of tough examinations conducted by the Union Public Service Commission, while on the other hand, a good number of students have had to drop out as the State Government is only able to chip with the minimum amount to pay their fees.

Significantly the Chairman of the Local Board of Governor is the GOC of 57 Mountain Division, Maj Gen Shakti Gurung and he has been putting in his best mite for the betterment of the school.

This is the first time that such a large number of cadets have made it to the NDA from a single Sainik School in the last 37 years.

The successful cadets will join the Academy from June this year.

Talking to The Sangai Express a Defence official said that out of a total of 32 students from Sainik School, Imphal who sat for the NDA examination, 22 got through the written test, which is a remarkable achievement in itself.

After the nitty gritty of the physical test, medical test and personality test, conducted by the Services Selection Board seven out of the 22 students made the final cut for the NDA, said the official.

Significantly out of the seven who have made it for the NDA, five are from Manipur while one is from Arunachal Pradesh and the other from Tripura.

The seven are presently sitting for their CBSE Class XII examination.

The seven who have made it to the portal of the NDA are Rojer Irom, L Sanathoi, Tarun Kumar, L Nikhil Singh, Animesh Chakraborty, Kalung Payang and Surjit Kumar.

Set up in 1971 on October 7, so far 79 students from this school have made it to the NDA while another 16 have joined defence related services.

What has made the achievement of the school all that more significant is the fact that out of the 23 Sainik Schools set up all over the country under the Ministry of Defence, Sainik School, Imphal is among the four which has been identified as the ones with the poorest infrastructure, said the official.

At the other end of the success story scripted by the brilliant students of the school, is the sorry tale of some students forced to drop out as the State Government is just about able to meet the minimum fees of the students which stands at 14 pc.

This is in sharp contrast with the Governments of Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Mizoram and Nagaland have been bearing the tuition fees and dietary needs of their students admitted to Sainik School, Imphal, said the official.

Furnishing statistics, the official said that in 2005-06, forty students from Manipur dropped out while in 2006-07 it was 64 and 29 students in 2007-08. Two seats are set aside for students from Bhutan in the school while some students from Bihar are also admitted there.

The beauty, rather positive point of this school lies in the fact that its functioning are not in any way affected by the frequent imposition of bandhs, blockades and other disturbances, which have become the bane of Manipur.

To acknowledge the achievements of this school, the Chief of Indian Air Force has given the go ahead signal to instal a MIG-21 air craft within the campus of the institution, said the official further.

The fighter aircraft is most likely to land at the campus of the school some time next month.

The MIG-21 will land at Sainik School, thanks to no small measures taken up by its Principal Group Captain (Air Force) Surinder Singh.

Though the school is not affected by bandhs, blockades, general strikes or the other ills that hound us, power shortage has certainly taken its toll, so much so that the language lab has been rendered defunct.

The good part is that Chief Minister O Ibobi has taken a personal interest to look into the inconveniences faced by the school after it was brought to his notice and accordingly the State Govt has given the go ahead nod to set up a separate power line for the institution at the cost of Rs 35 lakhs, said the official adding that this is a wonderful gesture.

Heaping accolades on the CM, the Defence official said that due to his initiative the dormitory, mess and kitchen have been renovated at the cost of Rs 60 lakhs.

To meet the water requirements of the school another sum of Rs 67 lakhs has been okayed by the CM to construct a pond, said the official adding that funds have been kept aside for constructing a 3.5 road inside the school campus .

The official also appreciated the assurance of the CM that a fencing would be put up around the 268 acre campus besides constructing a school court at the cost of Rs 25 lakhs.

Other than this the CM has assured that the State Govt will bear the cost of building a dormitory which can house over 100 students at the cost of Rs one crore.

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