Balrampur: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said on Thursday the top 10 meritorious students in classes 10 and 12 board examinations will be rewarded with a helicopter ride. The chief minister made the announcement while addressing a press conference during his constituency-wise public interactions drive at Rajpur in the Balrampur district.

District-wise toppers in both the board examinations will also be rewarded with a chopper ride by the state government, Mr Baghel said. Helicopter rides will be provided in order to motivate and encourage children. The state and district-level toppers will get inspiration from the chief minister’s toppers chopper ride, he said.

“Air travel is something everyone desires. I believe that a helicopter ride will inculcate in the minds of children a desire to fly high in the skies of life and they will sharpen their skills even more to achieve their goal,” the chief minister said.

Mr Baghel further said that during his visit to three Atmanand English Medium Schools in Samri Assembly constituency on Wednesday, he realised that students had a lot of talent, but they needed motivation. “I have full faith that if our students get some unique motivation and if a unique reward is set for them, then their desire to succeed will also increase,” he said.

About 6.50 lakh students appeared in the Chhattisgarh Board Examination. Out of these, 2,93,685 students had appeared in class 12th, out of which 2,89,808 students were regular and 3,617 students were private. At the same time, 3,80,027 students had registered for the 10th examination, out of which 3,77,677 were regular and 2,360 were private students.