A five-storey government school built exclusively for girls now stands in Malerkotla, Punjab — and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann says it was delivered under budget, on a day charged with national symbolism. On Wednesday, 12 August 2026, Mann inaugurated the facility, framing it as an early gift ahead of India's 80th Independence Day.

Under budget and on time in Malerkotla

The project, Mann announced, was completed at a cost of Rs 6.34 crore — saving Rs 5.25 lakh from the sanctioned public outlay. The CM described the school as a 'dheeyan layi khaas tohfa' (a special gift for daughters), tying the inauguration directly to the Independence Day milestone. Malerkotla, Punjab's youngest district, becomes home to one of the state's newest purpose-built girls' school campuses.

882 NEET clears, 361 JEE qualifiers — government schools punch up

Mann used the occasion to point to what his government calls proof of a wider education turnaround. He cited 882 students from government schools clearing NEET and 361 qualifying JEE as evidence that Punjab now ranks first in the country in education. These are competitive national-entrance exams that have historically been dominated by private-school and coaching-centre candidates, making the government-school numbers — if borne out — a genuinely striking data point.

15,000-plus girl students get dedicated bus service

Infrastructure alone, the CM argued, is not enough to keep girls in classrooms. The government has extended a special bus service to more than 15,000 girl students across Punjab to address the transport barrier that has long pushed female enrolment down in semi-urban and rural areas. The AAP administration has positioned this scheme as a structural fix, not a one-off subsidy — making daily commute to school a state responsibility rather than a family burden.

AAP's education bet and what the numbers need to prove

Since taking office in March 2022, the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab has consistently flagged school upgrades and girls' education as its flagship welfare agenda — mirroring the playbook that earned the party political capital in Delhi. The Malerkotla inauguration fits that template: a visible brick-and-mortar delivery, a cost-saving headline, and examination results cited as outcome evidence. The NEET and JEE figures, the bus-service scale, and the 'number one in education' claim are all drawn from the government's own statements; independent verification of the ranking and pass-count data will be the real test of the narrative Mann is building.

Mann closed his post with 'Inquilab Zindabad!' — 'Long live the revolution!' — a slogan with deep roots in Punjab's freedom-movement history, invoked here to underscore the Independence Day framing of the school launch.

The question the Malerkotla school now poses is simple: can a five-storey building in one district become a replicable model — or does it remain a ribbon-cutting moment? The next round of national education surveys will have the answer.