The Sainik Schools are a system of schools in India established and managed by the Sainik Schools Society under Ministry of Defence (MoD). They were conceived in 1961 by V. K. Krishna Menon, the then Defence Minister of India, to rectify the regional and class imbalance amongst the Officer cadre of the Indian Military, and to prepare students mentally and physically for entry into the National Defence Academy (NDA) and Indian Naval Academy (INA). Sainik Schools, along with 1 RIMC and 5 RMS (Rashtriya Military Schools), contribute 25% to 30% officer cadets to NDA and INA. As of 2021, there were 33 Sainik Schools, and MoD will establish 100 more boarding Sainik Schools in public–private partnership (PPP) mode. MoD run Sainik Schools as joint venture with the respective state governments. MoD provides annual funding, and serving officers in the key roles such as Principal. State governments provide the land, infrastructure, and other teaching and administrative employees. Sainik Schools follow the "CBSE Plus" by using CBSE curriculum while additionally aiming to prepare children for entry into NDA and INA. Admission to Sainik Schools is granted from 6th class. The reservation policy caters for SC/ST, domicile of the respective states and the wards of Armed Forces employees and ex-servicemen. History The inspiration for setting up the Sainik Schools came from the Royal Indian Military College (RIMC) and Royal Indian Military Schools (now called Rashtriya Military School or RMS) which have given India many service chiefs. 1 RIMC and 5 RMS were established by the government after the World War I to Indianise the British Colonial Military in India by providing western style education with the aim to prepare the potential pool of future military officers. RIMC was established in 1922. Five RMS were established, namely Chail Military School in 1922, Ajmer Military School in 1930, Belgaum Military School in 1945, Bangalore Military School in 1946 and Dholpur Military School in 1962. First Sainik School came up in 1961. Additionally, there are several private military schools, Maharashtra has highest number of those. Oldest private military school is Bhonsala Military School, which was established in 1937. Although Sainik School, Lucknow, established in 1960 was the first Sainik School, is not under the Sainik School Society, but rather under Uttar Pradesh Sainik Schools Society, which is registered under the Indian Societies Registration Act (1860). In 2008, in his Union Budget the Finance minister, P Chidambaram,