Republic Day 2026: Grand Finale of National School Band Competition held in New Delhi

Ministry of Defence Republic Day 2026: Grand Finale of National School Band Competition held in New Delhi Raksha Rajya Mantri gives away prizes to winning & participating teams “Youth are main drivers of India’s Viksit Bharat journey” प्रव तथ: 24 JAN 2026 6:33PM by PIB Delhi The Grand Finale of the National School Band Competition, organised as part of the 77th Republic Day Celebrations, was held at the National Bal Bhavan, New Delhi on January 24, 2026. Eighteen (18) teams in each zone (East, West, North & South) fought for the top honours in Brass Band Boys, Brass Band Girls, Pipe Band Boys and Pipe Band Girls categories, with Raksha Rajya Mantri Shri Sanjay Seth giving away the prizes. The teams in each category have been given a cash prize (1st - Rs 51,000/-, 2nd - Rs 31,000/-, 3rd - Rs 21,000/-), a trophy, as well as certificates. Consolation cash prize of Rs 11,000/- have been to remaining team in each category. Their performances were evaluated by the Jury appointed by Ministry of Defence including members from each wing of the Armed forces (Army, Navy and Air Force). Following are the results of the Finale: Prize Schools State/UT Brass Band Boys 1st Sanjivini Sainik School & Junior College, Maharashtra Kopargaon, Distt-Ahilyanagar (Rs 51,000/-) 2nd City Montessori School, Kanpur Road LDA, Uttar Pradesh Lucknow (Rs 31,000/-)3rd St Xavier’s High School, Lupungutu, Jharkhand Chaibasa, West Singhbhum (Rs 21,000/-) Consolation Prize – 1 Montessori Indus Residential School Andhra Pradesh (Rs 11,000/-) Consolation Prize – 2 PM SHRI Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Kerala Periye, Kasaragod (Rs 11,000/-) Brass Band Girls 1st Providence Girls Higher Secondary School, Kerala Kozhikode (Rs 51,000/-) 2nd St. Joseph College, Ruchi Khand-1, Uttar Pradesh Shardanagar, Aashiyana, Lucknow (Rs 31,000/-) 3rd Don Bosco High School & Junior College, Maharashtra Tagore Nagar, Vikhroli East, Mumbai (Rs 21,000/-) Consolation Prize Holly Cross High School, Karbook, Gomati Tripura (Rs 11,000/-) Pipe Band Boys 1st Kairali School, Sec-2, HEC Township, Jharkhand Ranchi (Rs 51,000/-) 2nd Government Boys Sr. Secondary School, Delhi Badli (Rs 31,000/-) 3rd The Great India Sainik School, Godhi Chhattisgarh Mandir Hasaud, Bhansoj Road, Nawagaon, (Rs 21,000/-) RaipurConsolation Prize – 1 Shree Swami Narayan Gurukul Kumar Gujarat Vidyalaya Gir Somnath (Rs 11,000/-) Consolation Prize – 2 SMT PS Shivashankarappa EM Res. School Karnataka (Rs 11,000/-) Pipe Band Girls 1st Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya, Kanke, Jharkhand Ranchi (Rs 51,000/-) 2nd PM SHRI Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Rajasthan Suratgarh, Sriganga Nagar (Rs 31,000/-) 3rd Government Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, Delhi Raj Nagar Part-II Extn, Palam Colony (Rs 21,000/-) Consolation Prize PM SHRI Kendriya Vidyalaya, ASC Centre, Karnataka Bangalore (Rs 11,000/-) During the Republic Day parade this year, Avila Convent Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Venkitapuram, Coimbatore will make a special performance at Kartavya Path before the saluting dais. In his address, Raksha Rajya Mantri congratulated the winners on their performances, and described the youth of the country as the main drivers of the nation in its journey to becoming Viksit Bharat by 2047. As the event coincided with the National Girl Child Day, which is observed on 24th January every day, Raksha Rajya Mantri hailed the role of women personnel during Operation Sindoor, and stated that the Nari Shakti of the country is realising Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of Viksit Bharat. Gracing the opening ceremony, Defence Secretary Shri Rajesh Kumar Singh Singh appreciated the collaboration between the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Education in institutionalising the competition as part of the Republic Day Celebrations. He lauded the students for their dedication, precision and musical excellence, noting that such initiatives instill a deep sense of patriotism and national service among young learners. Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education Shri Sanjay Kumar emphasised the significance of co-curricular platforms such as the National School Band Competition in nurturing leadership, discipline, teamwork and holistic development among students. He reiterated the Ministry of Education's sustained commitment to promoting diverse talents beyond the classroom, in line with the vision and objectives of the National Education Policy 2020.The Competition was jointly conducted by the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Education. The first level was conducted by all States/Union Territories (UTs) including schools from CBSE, ICSE, KVS, NVS, Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Awasiya Vidyalaya, PM-SHRI and Sainik schools etc. Four winner band groups from each State in each category participated in the Zonal level competition. Building on the success from last year’s competition, the enthusiasm and level of participation scaled up significantly this year. 763 school band teams participated at the State level, out of which 94 school band teams were shortlisted for the Zonal level. In the Zonal level competition, 80 school band teams from 30 States/UTs comprising 2,217 children participated. ***** SR/Savvy (रलीज़ आईडी: 2218229) आगंतुक पटल : 476 इस वज्ञ को इन भाषाओ ंम पढ़: Malayalam , Urdu , ही , Marathi , Tamil