Chandigarh, March 12 -- Amid a standoff between the central government and some non-BJP-ruled states over its implementation, the Centre has selected 101 secondary and higher secondary schools in Punjab for upgradation under the Prime Minister Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) scheme.

These schools were selected through the challenge mode process from among the 968 state-run schools that participated in the sixth round. The total number of PM SHRI schools in Punjab has increased to 347, including one upper primary school, 80 secondary schools and 266 higher secondary schools. Thirty-five of these are girls' schools.

Patiala has the highest number of PM SHRI schools at 29, followed by Bathinda and Gurdaspur with 26 each, according to da...