Chandigarh, Aug 20 (IANS) Exposing the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) misleading narrative on Punjab’s government schools, Education Minister Harjot Bains on Thursday called out BJP leaders for circulating a seven‑year‑old video as a current picture to malign Punjab and mislead the public.

The minister said he personally visited the Jallah Government School in Fatehgarh Sahib, shown in the video, and found the ground reality had changed completely, with smart interactive panels, functional toilets, a sanitary pad incinerator, clean drinking water and wi‑fi now in place.

Hitting back with the education record, Bains pointed out that Punjab had topped the country in PGI (Performance Grading Index) 2.0 and classroom learning outcomes. He said 882 government school students had cracked UG‑NEET 2026, and even Patiala, ranked 23rd in Punjab, had scored higher than BJP‑ruled Haryana’s top‑ranked Gurugram in the Centre’s NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog survey.

Bains told the media that after a video shared on X by BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari and later reposted by MP Harbhajan Singh came to his notice, he decided to verify the claims on the ground rather than rely solely on official reports.

Countering the criticism with facts, Bains said Punjab’s education performance should be judged against independent assessments by the Government of India. “Punjab has topped the country in the Performance Grading Index 2.0. The NITI Aayog report released in May this year has ranked Punjab number one in classroom learning outcomes,” he said.

He further cited the PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024, saying Punjab had emerged as the number one state in the country in education. He said the Ministry of Education’s Project Approval Board had also repeatedly appreciated Punjab’s work in school infrastructure and learning outcomes.

“Political criticism is part of public life, but deliberate attempts to malign Punjab and its schools will not be tolerated. The issue is not Harjot Bains. You can criticise me as much as you want. The issue is Punjab. We will not tolerate attempts to malign Punjab,” he said.

He added that Punjab had moved from the narrative of ‘Udta Punjab’ to ‘Pardha Punjab’, pointing out that 882 students of government schools had cracked UG‑NEET 2026 in national‑level competitive examinations.

“Punjab has moved from ‘Udta Punjab’ to ‘Pardha Punjab’. Today, 882 students of government schools have cracked UG‑NEET 2026. Punjab’s performance in education is being acknowledged nationally,” he said.

–IANS

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