India's first Sainik school celebrates Golden Jubilee

Sainik School Satara, which has the distinction of being the first among the 24 Sainik Schools in the country, is celebrating its golden jubilee tomorrow.

The idea of establishing a chain of Sainik Schools in the country was conceived by late VK Krishna Menon, the then defence minister of Defence.

The school was inaugurated on June 23, 1961 by Menon and the function was presided over by Yashwantrao Chavan, the then chief minister of Maharashtra.

"We are holding a small function in the school premises to mark the launch of Golden Jubilee celebrations. The main function is in October and is expected to be attended by chief minister Ashok Chavan and Union Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar. We are inviting President Pratibha Patil for the concluding function next year," Principal Colonel VN Chaturvedi told PTI over phone.

The school is spread over 115 acres. The main school building is a modern structure with a large gymnasium hall. It houses the class rooms, well equipped laboratories, a well stocked library and a multipurpose hall for various activities. The school has a well-maintained swimming pool and an auditorium cum cinema theatre.

There are six boarding houses named after Pandit Nehru, Chhatrapati Shivaji, D K Karve, Maharana Pratap, Lokmanya Tilak and Lal Bahadur Shastri. There are staff quarters for all the employees of the school.

The school has an athletics stadium and 15 other playgrounds for football, hockey, volley ball, basket ball, etc.

The school has Classes VI to XII and is affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi. The school strength is 650 students who are prepared for entry to the prestigious National Defence Academy.

So far, 605 students have joined the NDA and around 200 others have joined the armed forces as officers after passing out.

The school is managed by the Sainik Schools Society under the Ministry of Defence. The Society's Board of Governors is headed by the Defence Minister. Alumni of the Satara school include Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal PV Naik and actor-filmmaker Rakesh Roshan.