Lok Sabha Question No. 2323 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-07-31
Subject: Innovation Fund
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: ANURAG SINGH THAKUR

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2323 TO BE ANSWERED ON 31.07.2017

## Innovation Fund

## 2323.    SHRI ANURAG SINGH  THAKUR:

Will the Minister of HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT be  pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government proposes an innovation f und f  or secondary education and if so, the details thereof  ;
- (b) the number of States which have the most number of educationally backward blocks in the country; and
- (c) the number of educationally backward blocks benefited from the said funds so far?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SHRI UPENDRA KUSHWAHA)

- (a) In the  Budget for  the  year 2017-18, an Innovation  Fund for  Secondary Education has been  created  to  encourage  local  innovation  for  ensuring  universal  access,  gender  parity  and quality improvement, including ICT enabled learning transformation. The focus will be on 3479 Educationally Backward Blocks.
- (b) The State wise detail of the Educationally Backward Blocks (EBBs) is at Annexure- I .
- (c) Under the Innovation fund for Secondary Education, the States/UTs would be required to submit  proposals  after  working  out  the  innovative  projects  aiming  to  enhance  access,  bring gender  parity,  improvement  in  quality  or  enhance  learning  outcomes  of  the  students  in  the Educationally Backward Blocks. So  far, no grant has been released to the States/UTs under the Innovation Fund.

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ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (b)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2323 REGARDING "INNOVATION FUND" FOR ANSWER ON 31.07.2017 ASKED BY  SHRI ANURAG SINGH THAKUR  INDICAT ING STATE  WISE  DETAILS  OF  EDUCATIONALLY  BACKWARD  BLOCKS (EBBS).

| S. No.   | Name of the State                             |   No. of EBBs |
|----------|-----------------------------------------------|---------------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh (Unified with Telangana State) |           737 |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh                             |            38 |
| 3        | Assam                                         |            81 |
| 4        | Bihar                                         |           530 |
| 5        | Chhattisgarh                                  |            75 |
| 6        | D &NHaveli                                    |             1 |
| 7        | Gujarat                                       |            85 |
| 8        | Haryana                                       |            37 |
| 9        | Himachal Pradesh                              |             5 |
| 10       | Jammu &Kashmir                                |            97 |
| 11       | Jharkhand                                     |           203 |
| 12       | Karnataka                                     |            74 |
| 13       | Kerala                                        |             1 |
| 14       | Madhya Pradesh                                |           203 |
| 15       | Maharashtra                                   |            43 |
| 16       | Manipur                                       |             5 |
| 17       | Meghalaya                                     |             9 |
| 18       | Mizoram                                       |             1 |
| 19       | Nagaland                                      |            11 |
| 20       | Odisha                                        |           172 |
| 21       | Punjab                                        |            21 |
| 22       | Rajasthan                                     |           186 |
| 23       | Tamilnadu                                     |            44 |
| 24       | Tripura                                       |             9 |
| 25       | Uttar Pradesh                                 |           702 |
| 26       | Uttarakhand                                   |            23 |
| 27       | West Bengal                                   |            86 |
| Total    | Total                                         |          3479 |