"As an homage to General Bipin Rawat, who gave his life in the service of the nation," the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said, "Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has decided that Sainik School, Mainpuri, shall be called as General Bipin Rawat Sainik School from now on."

The Sainik School in Mainpuri, which opened on April 1, 2019, is one of 33 similar educational schools around the country, with three in Uttar Pradesh.

Jhansi and Amethi are the state's other two schools. There is also a Sainik School in Lucknow. While the others are managed by the Ministry of Defence's Sainik Schools Society, the one in Lucknow is run by the UP Sainik Schools Society.

General Rawat, who was also the country's incumbent CDS at the time, was one of 13 passengers killed when their helicopter crashed in Coonoor, Tamil Nadu, last December. Madhulika Rawat, Rawat's wife, was also among the dead.

Group Captain Varun Singh of the Indian Air Force (IAF) originally survived the accident, but he died on December 15 while receiving treatment at a Bengaluru hospital.

(IANS/PR)

(Keywords: Sainik School, UP, CMO, General Bipin Rawat, chief of defence staff (CDS), Tamil Nadu, December)