Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday marked Raksha Bandhan by hosting schoolchildren at his official residence in New Delhi, greeting them with high-fives, listening to their stories, and receiving rakhis in a ceremony that doubled as a public pitch for expanded boarding school education across India.
The interaction, held at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, the Prime Minister’s official residence, was attended by students drawn from schools in Delhi. Images and footage shared by the Prime Minister’s Office on social media showed Modi walking among groups of children, bending down to exchange high-fives, and engaging in one-on-one conversations as students described their school experiences. The children tied rakhis on the Prime Minister’s wrist, performing the central ritual of the festival, which celebrates the bond between brothers and sisters.
The Prime Minister’s Office described the event in social media posts as a continuation of Modi’s tradition of marking major festivals with public interactions, often at his residence. Such events have become a regular feature of the Prime Minister’s outreach calendar, with similar gatherings held during Diwali, Holi, and other occasions.
Alongside the cultural celebration, Modi used the platform to advocate for residential schooling, highlighting what he described as the role of boarding schools in providing structured learning environments for students from rural and underserved backgrounds. He pointed to the government’s ongoing efforts to expand access to quality residential education, framing it as a pathway for social mobility and skill development for children who might otherwise lack access to well-resourced schools.
The remarks place the Prime Minister’s emphasis on boarding education within a broader policy push. The Ministry of Education has previously announced plans for new residential schools and the upgrading of existing institutions in tribal, aspirational, and remote districts, where day schooling has historically struggled with infrastructure, teacher shortages, and long travel distances. Proponents argue that residential models can deliver more consistent instruction, extracurricular exposure, and a safer environment, particularly for adolescent girls, whose enrollment has been a stated priority under various government schemes.
Critics, however, have raised questions about the cost-effectiveness of residential models compared with strengthening local day schools, the social and emotional impact of separating children from families at a young age, and the track record of past government-run boarding institutions, some of which have faced allegations of inadequate facilities and oversight gaps. Independent, publicly available assessments of the quality, retention rates, and learning outcomes of centrally sponsored boarding schools remain limited, making it difficult to evaluate how far existing programs have delivered on their stated goals.
The timing of Modi’s remarks, on a culturally significant day when attention is naturally drawn to family and community bonds, appeared designed to anchor the education message within an emotionally resonant frame. By tying the policy push to the festival’s themes of care and protection, the Prime Minister’s Office sought to present boarding school expansion as an extension of familial responsibility by the state, rather than purely an administrative reform.
Raksha Bandhan, observed across Hindu communities in India and by diaspora populations worldwide, traditionally involves sisters tying protective threads, or rakhis, on the wrists of brothers, who reciprocate with gifts and vows of protection. The festival has, in recent years, also been marked by public events in which women tie rakhis on soldiers, police personnel, and public figures, extending the ritual’s symbolism beyond biological siblings.
What to watch next: The Ministry of Education is expected to release updated guidelines on the establishment of new residential schools under the existing scheme for the upgradation of schools into model residential institutions. State governments, particularly those with large tribal and rural populations such as Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan, are likely to be the primary sites for any expansion. Advocacy groups are expected to press for greater transparency on learning outcomes, infrastructure standards, and safeguarding mechanisms at government-run boarding schools.
Conclusion: Modi’s Raksha Bandhan interaction blended cultural ritual with policy advocacy, using a familiar format to reinforce a recurring message about residential education as a tool for equity. Whether the announcement of new boarding schools translates into measurable improvements in access, quality, and outcomes for India’s most disadvantaged students will depend on implementation, monitoring, and the willingness of the government to subject its flagship education schemes to independent evaluation.
Sources
India Today — https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/narendra-modi-raksha-bandhan-celebration-with-students-at-pm-residence-2981794-2026-08-28
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Story synopsis gathered from: India Today – India — source
