Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday inaugurated the Balasore branch of Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) Emami-KISS Residential School through virtual mode.
The school, spread over 12 acre, has been built at a cost of Rs 50 crore and includes a mechanized kitchen, a 25-bed hospital, furniture and fixture and other facilities. While KISS chipped in with Rs 36 crore, Emami’s share in the project was Rs 14 crore.
.Naveen said around 1,200 economically challenged students from Class I to XII will be provided free education in this school at Remuna in the first phase under the CBSE curriculum. “KISS has taken initiative to open fully free residential schools for poor and underprivileged tribal children in 30 districts of Odisha. This would strengthen our initiative to give quality education to all children,” he said.
The CM further said that the state government has given more importance to education and is transforming the schools under the 5T programme. More than four thousand high schools have been transformed as of today, he added.
Odia Language, Literature and Culture Department Minister Ashwini Patra praised the initiative by KISS and Emami.
MP Pratap Sarangi, Remuna MLA Sudhanshu Parida, KIIT and KISS Founder Achyuta Samanta, representative of the Emami group Susil Goenka and Balasore Collector K Sudarshan Chakravarthy were present.