New Delhi: In a novel pilot scheme, Army has taken up schooling of 101 militancy-affected children including girls from Jammu and Kashmir with some of them being orphans of militants.

In a humanitarian gesture, the Army has shifted these children to the prestigious Army Public School, Beas, near Jallandhar, where as boarders they will undergo schooling from class V to CBS standards, with the entire estimated cost of Rs 1 lakh per annum being borne by the force.

"Seventy-six of the 101 children are Muslims and belong to families of low income group. They will now have the benefit of being exposed to a public school English medium education," the Additional Director General for Public Information Maj Gen D H Summanwar told reporters.

He said the project would be inaugurated by Defence Minister George Fernandes in the presence of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on September 17.

Of the 101 children, 55 are from the Valley, 35 from Jammu region and 11 from Ladakh and include 11- year-old Javed Ahmed Shah from Drugmulla in frontier district of Kupwara, whose father was killed by militants, and two from Drass whose parents died in indiscriminate shelling by Pakistani troops from across the Line of Control.

"It is a pilot project and its expansion would depend on the barometer of response," Summanwar said, adding that all the children had opted for schooling outside on voluntary basis.

PTI