•Punjab Is Now India’s No. 1 State in School Education & First to Introduce AI From Classes I to XII: Harjot Singh Bains
•Opposition Ran Away From Debate to Hide Its Own Failures, Resorted to Petty Politics to Defame Punjab: Harjot Singh Bains
•Punjab Police Busted Haryana-Based Technology-Driven Cheating Syndicate; Not Single Paper Leak in 4.5 Years: Harjot Singh Bains
•Punjab’s Govt Schools Have Delivered Record Results Under Sikhya Kranti, With 882 Students Qualifying NEET-UG 2026: Harjot Singh Bains
CHANDIGARH, August 3:
Speaking during the discussion on the censure motion in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha over repeated paper leaks across the country and the atrocities against protesting students, Punjab Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains on Monday said the Opposition avoided the debate because it had no answers to the transformation brought about by the Bhagwant Mann government in the education sector. He said that while the Opposition was trying to defame Punjab through false narratives, the facts told a different story.
Punjab has emerged as India’s No. 1 state in school education, become the first state to introduce Artificial Intelligence as a mainstream subject from Classes I to XII, recorded 882 government school students qualifying NEET-UG 2026 under Sikhya Kranti, and maintained a clean record of not a single paper leak in the last 4.5 years. “Punjab is changing, and education is becoming its defining identity,” he asserted.
Addressing the Vidhan Sabha, Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains said that he had stood in the House to answer every question raised by the Opposition. “I was a law student. I understand the universal principle of natural justice, that even in the worst of systems, no one is punished without being heard. It is very easy to raise questions. I have stood here to answer the Opposition,” he said.
Explaining how the racket operated, the Education Minister said the Haryana-based cheating syndicate used modified mobile phones, hidden wireless earpieces and other advanced gadgets to facilitate cheating during the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences pharmacy examination. “This was not a paper leak. This was a technology-driven cheating operation busted by Punjab Police. For years the Haryana Government looked away while this syndicate destroyed the future of thousands of students,” he said.
He advised Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini to fix his own backyard before coming to Punjab to set political agendas.
Recalling Punjab’s rich legacy of knowledge, courage and sacrifice, Minister Harjot Singh Bains said that from the hymns of the Rigveda to the world’s first university at Takshila, Punjab had always been a land of learning. “From Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s darbar to the teachings of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji and Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji, we have given the world the message of equality and education. From Shaheed Bhagat Singh who taught us to question power, to Dr. Har Gobind Khorana who won a Nobel, to Dr. Narinder Singh Kapany who gave the world fibre optics, to Dr. Gurtej Singh Sandhu who revolutionised semiconductor memory, this soil has produced giants,” he said.
“This is Punjab. This is our heritage. This is our pride. And we will not let anyone defame it, distort it or drag it down,” he added.
Presenting the achievements of the Punjab Government under the Sikhya Kranti initiative, the Education Minister said Punjab’s government schools had delivered record academic results.
He informed the House that a total of 882 students from Punjab’s government schools had qualified NEET-UG 2026, registering a cumulative increase of more than 100 per cent from 437 qualifiers in 2024.
Highlighting national recognition, the Education Minister said Punjab had climbed from the 27th position in 2020 to become the No. 1 ranked state in the NITI Aayog School Education Quality Report 2026, overtaking Kerala.
He further informed the House that Punjab has become the first state in India to introduce Artificial Intelligence as a mainstream subject from Classes I to XII. The initiative would cover 25,172 schools and nearly 31.5 lakh students, with the curriculum developed after studying best practices from Singapore, Finland, the UAE and the United States.
Detailing the government’s investment in education, Minister Harjot Singh Bains said the education budget had increased from ₹12,657 crore in 2021-22 to ₹19,279 crore in 2026-27, reflecting a rise of 52 per cent. “The Bhagwant Mann government has also launched the ₹3,500 crore Sikhya Kranti 2.0 mission and established 118 state-of-the-art Schools of Eminence. Punjab is changing, and education is becoming its defining identity,” he said.
Defending the students who protested against paper leaks, Minister Harjot Singh Bains described the Jantar Mantar agitation as a “Gen Z movement for policy change” and criticised those who branded the demonstrators as anti-national.
Recalling his visit to the protest site, the Education Minister said he was the only Education Minister in the country to stand with the students. “I did not speak from any stage. I sat among the students. I stood with them even during the lathi charge. Why? Because I said it then and I say it now, this is not about politics. This is about policy,” he said.
Minister Harjot Singh Bains said students from Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Punjab had travelled to Delhi carrying backpacks, with many forced to sleep on footpaths. “These were not students who went against the country. But in our country, a narrative has been built that anyone who raises their voice is anti-national. These students have shattered that lie. You cannot fool them with leaks and lies anymore,” he asserted.
In a direct message to the BJP-led Union Government, the Education Minister said the time has come for the government to apologise instead of expecting forgiveness.“When a customer does not get service, they will curse. When a citizen does not get service from the government, they will protest. This is not the time to forgive, this is the time to apologise,” he said.
