Lok Sabha Question No. 3250 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-08-09
Subject: Atmanirbhar Bharat
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Srinivas Kesineni

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3250 TO BE ANSWERED ON 09.08.2021

## Atmanirbhar Bharat

## 3250. SHRI KESINENI SRINIVAS :

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of incentives provided to private schools as part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat package and the list of principal entities receiving the same as a form of philanthropic gesture;
- (b) the details of the EdTech companies and other organizations with whom MOUs were signed by the Government to support education delivery during the pandemic;
- (c) the initiatives taken by the Government to prevent overcharging and fee hikes by private schools during the lock down; and
- (d) whether the Government is considering relaxing the not-for profit status of education any time soon and if so, the details thereof ?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF EDUCATION

## ( SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN )

(a) and (b): As a part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Programme, a comprehensive initiative for using Technology with Equity, called PM e-VIDYA has been initiated which unifies all efforts related to digital/ online/ on-air education to enable multi-mode access to education.

- PM e-Vidya has following components:
- DIKSHA- One nation, one digital education platform
- One class, one TV channel-Swayam Prabha
- E-content for Open School
- Extensive use of Radio, Community radio and podcast
- E-content for visually and hearing-impaired students

The 12 PM e-VIDYA DTH TV Channels are under bouquet of Swayam Prabha DTH channels, which  are  meant  to  support  and  reach  out  to  those  students  who  do  not  have  access  to  the internet. In the Ministry of Education, a total of 32 channels are devoted to telecast high quality educational  programmes.  Of  these,  12  TV  channels  are  earmarked  for  the  one  class,  one  TV channel (Classes 1-12) under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Programme for the Department of School Education and Literacy. Further, the Ministry has tied up with private DTH operators like TATA Sky, Videocon, DISH TV, Sun Direct & Airtel to air educational video content to enhance the reach  of  these  channels.  The  List  of  MoUs  signed  during  COVID-19  to  support  education delivery during the pandemic is at Annexure.

(c) and (d):  Education is a subject in the Concurrent List of the Constitution and schools, other than  those  owned  /  funded  by  Central  Government,  are  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  State Governments. Thus, the matter relating to fees  and its components in schools are  regulated in terms of Rules and Instructions of the State Government concerned. National Education Policy 2020  (para  no.  8.7)  provides  for  assessment  and  accreditation  of  Public  and  Private  Schools (except the schools that are managed/ aided/ controlled by the Central Government) on the same criteria,  benchmarks,  and  processes,  emphasizing  online  and  offline  public  disclosure  and transparency, similar standards of audit and disclosure as a 'not-for-profit' entity, so as to ensure that public-spirited private schools are encouraged and not stifled in anyway.

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## ANNEXURE

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  PART  (a)  AND  (b)  OF  THE  REPLY  TO  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  3250  TO  BE  ANSWERED  ON  09.08.2021  ASKED  BY  SHRI KESINENI SRINIVAS, HON'BLE MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT, LOK SABHA REGARDING 'ATMANIRBHAR BHARAT'.

List of MoUs signed during COVID-19 to support education delivery during the pandemic

|   S. No. | Organization                                                                           | Purpose                                                                                                                          |
|----------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Vahini                                                            | Sharing of digital content to be put on DIKSHA platform                                                                          |
|        2 | Sencilen Interactive Pvt. Ltd                                                          | Sharing of Sencilene contents with DIKSHA and NROER                                                                              |
|        3 | Indian Sign Language Research And Training Centre ( ISLRTC)                            | To develop videos using sign language                                                                                            |
|        4 | Khan Academy                                                                           | To disseminate Khan Academy contents through DIKSHA platform                                                                     |
|        5 | Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo Informatics (BISAG-N) | Transmission of 12 DTH TV channels of NCERT under the PM e-Vidya program.                                                        |
|        6 | Rotary Club of India Kolkatta                                                          | Sharing of e-contents for PM e-VIDYA                                                                                             |
|        7 | Dragon Learn Organisation                                                              | Sharing of e-content related to primary mathematics concepts                                                                     |
|        8 | Society For All Round Development (SARD)                                               | Sharing of e-content based on language learning                                                                                  |
|        9 | Google India Private Limited                                                           | G-Suite for Education                                                                                                            |
|       10 | Saavn Media Company                                                                    | Podcasting of NCERT audio contents through Jio Saavn App                                                                         |
|       11 | NETCORE Solutions Pvt. Ltd                                                             | WhatsApp chatbot for DIKSHA                                                                                                      |
|       12 | Community Radio Stations (CRS)                                                         | Broadcast of curriculum based PM e- VIDYA radio programmes                                                                       |
|       13 | All India Radio                                                                        | Broadcast of curriculum based PM e- VIDYA radio programmes                                                                       |
|       14 | EdCIL                                                                                  | For providing human resource for PM e- VIDYA programme                                                                           |
|       15 | Samsung India Ltd.                                                                     | For establishment of Samsung Smart Classes one each in Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas during the session 2020-21, under CSR scheme. |

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