Lok Sabha Question No. 2750 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-17
Subject: Improvement in the condition of Government Schools in Rural Areas of Aspirational Districts
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Smt. Malvika Devi

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2750

ANSWERED ON 17.03.2025

## Improvement in the condition of Government Schools in Rural Areas of Aspirational Districts

2750. Smt. Malvika Devi:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- the steps being taken by the Government to improve the conditions of the Government schools especially in rural areas of aspirational districts;
- the number of Government schools started in the country during the last year and particularly in Odisha especially in Kalahandi and Nuapada districts;
- the steps being taken by the Government for smart classes in the Government schools; and
- the  number  of  Government  schools  in  Odisha  having  smart  classes  including Kalahandi and Nuapada districts?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

## (SHRI JAYANT CHOUDHARY)

(a):    The  Government  is  actively  working  towards  strengthening  Government  schools  and improving quality of education in rural areas of aspirational districts through different policy measures and programmes such as the Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP) and Samagra Shiksha Scheme.

The Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP), launched in January 2018, aims at rapid and effective transformation of 112 under-developed districts across sectors which are critical for improving quality of life or economic productivity of citizens. The programme focuses on 49 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) across five key sectors viz; Health & Nutrition, Education, Financial  Inclusion  &  Skill  Development,  Agriculture  &  Water  Resources,  and  Basic Infrastructure.  Education  consists  of  eight  KPIs  focussing  on  learning  outcomes  as  well  as infrastructural and institutional indicators, and accounts for 30% weightage in composite scores used for ranking and tracking performance of aspirational districts through the Champions of Change Dashboard (http://championsofchange.gov.in/site/coc-home/).

The broad strategy of the programme is not to run any additional scheme, but to ensure that development  works  under  the  existing  schemes  of  Central  and  State  Governments,  are implemented effectively in Aspirational Districts through convergence and collaboration, so as to make improvement in the KPIs. Additionally, to instil a sense of healthy competition among district teams for better performance, top performing districts are given performance grants under the programme.

Besides,  the  Government  through  the  centrally  sponsored  scheme  of  Samagra  Shiksha prioritizes strengthening and saturation of school infrastructure and facilities such as Science Labs, ICT labs, Smart Classrooms and other facilities in the Government Schools located in the Aspirational Districts.

Special  focus  on  augmenting  schooling  infrastructure  in  rural  areas  and  Educationally Backward Blocks/Aspirational Districts is provided under Samagra Shiksha through extensive support  for  Kasturba  Gandhi  Balika  Vidyalayas  (KGBVs),  Netaji  Subhash  Chandra  Bose Awasiya Vidyalayas (NSCBAVs), as also through convergence with schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan (PM-JANMAN) and Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan (DAJGUA).

(b)  The  number  of  newly  established  government  schools  in  the  country  and  Odisha, particularly Kalahandi and Nuapada districts, is given in Table-1.

Table-1 Newly established government schools

|                    | Total Government Schools in 2021   | Government Schools Established in 2022   | Government Schools Established in 2023   |
|--------------------|------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|
| India              | 10,22,386                          | 1,576                                    | 1,056                                    |
| Odisha             | 49,072                             | 71                                       | 4                                        |
| Kalahandi - Odisha | 2170                               | -                                        | -                                        |
| Nuapada - Odisha   | 904                                | -                                        | -                                        |

Source- UDISE+ various reports

(c) & (d) There is a dedicated provision under the Information & Communication Technology (ICT) component of the Samagra Shiksha Scheme, to impart computer literacy and computerenabled  learning  to  students,  by  developing  and  deploying  curriculum-based  interactive multimedia,  digital  books,  ICT  labs,  smart  classroom  etc.  across  the  country.  The  scheme supports the establishment of smart classrooms in government schools, including support for hardware,  educational  software  and  e-content  for  teaching,  through  financial  assistance  to States/UTs.  This  includes  non-recurring  grant  of  Rs.  2.40  lakh  for  2  smart  classrooms  per school and recurring grant of Rs. 38,000/- per school per annum to cater for e-Content and digital resources, charges for electricity, etc. Number of Government schools in Odisha having smart classrooms including Kalahandi and Nuapada districts is given in Table-2.

Table-2 Number of Government schools in Odisha

|                    | Government Schools with Smart Class facility   |
|--------------------|------------------------------------------------|
| Odisha             | 12,505                                         |
| Kalahandi - Odisha | 282                                            |
| Nuapada - Odisha   | 193                                            |

Source- UDISE+ 2023-24