By Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath surprised teachers at a Teachers’ Day felicitation ceremony by deciding to personally honour all 81 recipients of the State Teacher Award and Chief Minister Teacher Award, rather than limiting the ceremony to the 10 names listed in the original programme. His decision drew appreciation from teachers who had travelled from different parts of the state to attend the event.
The ceremony was held at the Yogiraj Baba Gambhirnath Auditorium on Saturday, where Yogi was initially scheduled to present awards to five teachers from the Basic Education Department and five from the Secondary Education Department. However, once the felicitation began, the chief minister told officials that every selected teacher deserved to be recognised personally. He then invited the remaining 71 awardees to the stage and presented each of them with the award.
Yogi personally felicitates all 81 teachers
The chief minister presented the award-winning teachers with citation certificates along with a symbolic cheque of Rs 25,000 as prize money.
Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Secondary Education Gulab Devi honoured the women teachers by presenting them with an angavastram, while Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Basic Education Sandeep Singh presented angavastrams to the male teachers.
The awardees were also given an idol of Goddess Saraswati as a mark of respect for their contribution to education.
Award-winning teachers to get lifetime travel benefit
The recognition also comes with additional benefits for the teachers selected for the state-level awards. According to the programme details, they will be entitled to free travel of up to 4,000 kilometres every year on Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation buses for the rest of their lives.
Their retirement age will also be extended by two years.
The ceremony highlighted the government’s recognition of teachers not only through awards and financial incentives, but also through long-term benefits linked to their service. Yogi’s decision to personally felicitate all 81 awardees added a personal touch to the Teachers’ Day event.
