With the 116-year-old palace of the erstwhile Maharaja of Kapurthala that houses Punjab’s sole Sainik School calling for urgent restoration and renovation, the institute’s governing body is planning the construction of a new building that will incorporate contemporary teaching aids and modern amenities.
Given the state of the building, the restoration work would be an extensive project and require the involvement of archaeologists and specialists as the original character of the structure will have to be preserved.
According to sources at the Army’s Jalandhar-based 11 Corps, “The palace would have to be vacated for the purpose. It was designed as a royal residence and the requirement projected to the Punjab government is for a new building suited for academic purposes with smart classrooms, well-planned laboratories and associated paraphernalia."
Though land is available, the key issue here was funding for construction and allied civil works for which modalities will have to be worked out, sources added.
The Corps, along with the Sainik School Society, an entity under the Ministry of Defence that runs 33 such schools across the country, and the Punjab government are stakeholders in running the institute. Funding for running the institute is shared by the central and state government.
“When the school came up in 1961, the building was in good shape, but has over the years deteriorated. The infrastructure is the responsibility of the state government and Punjab’s public works department spends about 3-4 crore each year on its upkeep, but it is not enough,” an officer said. Some grants-in-aid also come in from the central government. A senior officer from the society headquarters in New Delhi had also inspected the school premises about two months ago.
After the demise of the Maharaja in 1949, the property situated in an estate of about 250 acres, was acquired by the Punjab government. In 1961, the palace along with 100 acres of surrounding land was leased to the society.
Built in 1908 by the last ruler of Kapurthala, Jagatjit Singh, the palace was designed by a French architect and is modelled after the Versailles Palace near Paris. The interiors are an amalgamation of various cultural styles with a fascinating collection of murals, frescos and artefacts.
The painted ceilings depict the finer aspects of French decor, whereas the ceremonial Durbar Hall has a totally Indian character. The roofs were constructed in beaux-art style of the 19th century with feature pillars and marble fireplaces marking other areas.
Under the formula for sharing expenses of Sainik Schools, the state governments concerned provide land, building, infrastructure and diet allowance for students, while the central government pays the salary and allowances for the faculty and other staff besides providing service officers for administration.
Funding has been a recurring concern for all Sainik Schools. While flow of money from state governments has at times been erratic, the financial support from the Defence Ministry has also witnessed a declining trend. According to official figures, the budgetary allocation from the centre has come down from Rs 329 crore in 2020-21 to Rs 300 crore in 2021-22, Rs 200 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 176 crore in 2023-24.
Sainik Schools were set up as a feeder institute for the National Defence Academy (NDA) to prepare boys, and more recently, girls, to become defence officers. According to defence ministry statistics, there are about 17,000 students studying in all 33 Sainik Schools at present, which includes about 900 girls.
Close to 9,000 alumni of Sainik Schools have become officers out of which over 150 have reached the rank of Lieutenant General or equivalent, besides attaining top positions in civilian domains. Army officers said that 25 percent of the intake into the NDA is from Sainik Schools. The average annual intake into the NDA is 650 cadets.
