Chief Minister Inaugurates Uttarakhand’s First “Saathi Kendra”

Sept 2025 : Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday inaugurated Uttarakhand’s first “Saathi Kendra” at Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Government Post Graduate College, Khatima, established in collaboration with IIT Kanpur.

The Chief Minister said that the social and economic development of any country depends on the quality of its education. With this vision, Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced the National Education Policy (NEP) in 2020, a historic step aimed at bringing large-scale reforms in the education system. He noted that this policy is now helping students not only to gain employment-oriented education but also to succeed in competitive examinations.

He highlighted that under the visionary leadership of the Prime Minister, the “Saathi Project” was launched in 2023 to provide quality education and equal opportunities to students across the country. Through this initiative, professors from prestigious institutions like IITs and IISc are offering online classes to prepare students for competitive exams. The project is currently providing guidance to students preparing for engineering, medical, banking, railways, and CLAT examinations, especially those from remote and underprivileged backgrounds.

At this center, 80 students will be given access to offline coaching and mentoring facilities. The Chief Minister said this will directly benefit talented students of Khatima and its surrounding rural areas. He informed that more than 1.5 million students across India have already benefited from the “Saathi Project.” In Uttarakhand alone, around 29,000 students have joined the initiative, and last year, over 500 of them successfully cleared various competitive exams with its help.

The Chief Minister added that the state government is continuously working to improve Uttarakhand’s education system. Under NEP 2020, universities and research institutes in the state are being encouraged to introduce courses in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Big Data. Initiatives like the construction of Science City and Astro Park are also being undertaken to promote scientific research.

He said that along with strengthening infrastructure in existing colleges, the state is working on establishing nine new colleges. Under the “Chief Minister’s Research Promotion Scheme,” university and college professors are being provided research grants of up to ₹18 lakh. Incentive awards are also being given for the publication of outstanding research papers.

The event was attended by Higher Education Minister Dr. Dhan Singh Rawat, Member of Parliament Ajay Bhatt, Municipal Council President Ramesh Chand Joshi, Minister of State Dr. Anil Kapoor Dabbou, Higher Education Secretary Dr. Ranjit Kumar Sinha, Higher Education Director Dr. B.N. Khali, IIT Kanpur Director Maninder Agrawal, District Magistrate Nitin Singh Bhadoria, Senior Superintendent of Police Manikant Mishra, Principal Dr. Pankaj Kumar, as well as several public representatives, teachers, and students.

Information & Public Relations Department