Minister of State for Education, Dr.Subhas Sarkar held a press conference regarding Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's unique interactive program - Pariksha Pe Charcha (PPC) wherein students, parents, and teachers across the nation and also from overseas interact with him to discuss and overcome the stress emerging out of examinations to celebrate life as an Utsav.

Dr.Sarkar said this event was organized successfully for the last six years by the Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education. The first three editions of PPC were held in New Delhi in a town-hall interactive format. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the fourth edition was held online in the form of a programme telecast on Doordarshan and all major TV channels.

He also informed that the fifth and sixth edition of PPC was again held in town-hall format at Talkatora Stadium, New Delhi. Almost 31.24 lakh students, 5.60 lakh teachers and 1.95 lakh parents participated enthusiastically in the contests last year (2023).

He also informed that the 7th edition of Pariksha Pe Charcha recorded a massive 2.26 crore registration on the MyGov portal. He added that this shows the extensive enthusiasm among students nationwide, eager to participate in this distinctive event and interact with the Prime Minister.

Dr. Sarkar said that this year Pariksha Pe Charcha will be held on 29 January 2024, from 11 am onwards in a town hall format at Bharat Mandapam, ITPO, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. Nearly 3000 participants will be interacting with the Prime Minister in the programme.

He also informed that two students and a teacher from each of the States and UTs and winners of the Kala Utsav have been invited as special guests for the main event. Hundred students from the Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS), from different parts of the country will be attending the event for the first time since inception.

He said that to participate in the contest, the online MCQ competition was conducted on the MyGov portal between 11th December 2023 to 12th January 2024 for students of classes 6th to 12th, teachers, and parents. Participants were selected based on their Questions on the MyGov portal. They will be presented with a special Pariksha Pe Charcha kit comprising of Exam Warriors book in Hindi and English, written by the Prime Minister, and a certificate.

He added that the Pariksha Pe Charcha is part of the larger movement - ‘Exam Warriors’ - led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, to create a stress-free atmosphere for youngsters.

He said, that it is a movement that is driven by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's efforts to bring together students, parents, teachers and society to foster an environment where the unique individuality of each child is celebrated, encouraged and allowed to express itself fully.

He added further that with this in mind, as a precursor to the main event, starting from 12th January 2024, i.e., Youth Day, till 23rd January 2024, a bouquet of activities were organized at the school level which will include joyful learning activities like a marathon run, music competition, meme competition, nukkad natak, student-anchor-Student-guest discussions, etc.

He said, on 23rd January 2024, a nationwide painting competition was organised in 657 Kendriya Vidyalayas and 122 Navodaya Vidyalayas (NVS), in 774 Districts across the country. Over 60 thousand students took part in the mega event, which was themed around exam mantras from the Book Exam Warriors, written by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. Students and teachers took part in the painting competition with great fervour and enthusiasm.

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SS/AK