The government of India has provided a grant assistance of Rs 77 million for construction of the building of a school in Pokhara.

Counsellor of the Indian Embassy, Pranay Verma, laid the foundation stone of a new building of Nepal Bharat Maitri Vidyalaya (Nepal-India Friendship School) being constructed in the premises of the Pension Paying Office of Embassy of India in Pokhara on Tuesday.

With a view to provide quality education to the children of ex-servicemen, the Indian government established the school in July 2000, with the concurrence of Government of Nepal, in a temporary accommodation at Pokhara. There are over 122,000 ex-servicemen in Nepal.

Subsequently, the India and Nepal signed an agreement on August 24, 2006 for setting up a higher secondary school affiliated to Central Board of Secondary Education of India to ensure consistency in educational pattern for the children of Nepalese ex-servicemen on their return from India to Nepal. Presently the school is holding classes from standard I to VIII and is likely to be upgraded to higher classes.

The Indian government has appointed a consultant/architect and would appoint a contractor for implementation of the project. A Project Monitoring Committee will be constituted for monitoring the progress of construction to ensure its timely and effective implementation, a release issued by the Indian embassy said. nepalnews.com mk Feb 13 08