Lok Sabha Question No. 1238 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-28
Subject: Access of AI Lab in Schools/Colleges
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Shri Parbhubhai Nagarbhai Vasava

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1238

ANSWERED ON 28/07/2025

## Access of AI Lab in Schools/Colleges

1238. Shri Parbhubhai Nagarbhai Vasava:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a) the measures taken by the Government to ensure that schools and colleges in Rural, Tribal and Aspirational Districts are prioritized for AI lab access;

(b) the details of AI labs which have been approved/set up in schools and colleges;

(c) the total budget allocation for setting up AI labs in schools under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan and PM SHRI Scheme; and

(d) the details of other scheme, to promote AI Labs in Schools and Colleges?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SH. JAYANT CHAUDHARY)

(a) to (d): Education is in the concurrent list of the Constitution and majority of the schools are under  domain  of  the  respective  State  and  UT  Governments.  Samagra  Shiksha,  an  overarching programme envisaging the 'school' as a continuum from pre-school to Grade 12, is running in the country  including  the  rural  areas.  The  vision  of  the  scheme  is  to  ensure  inclusive  and  equitable quality education in accordance with the National Education Policy 2020.

Under  Samagra  Shiksha,  financial  assistance  is  provided  to  States/UTs,  including  rural, tribal and aspirational districts for setting up of ICT Labs in Government and Government Aided Schools  having  classes  VI  to  XII.  The  non-  recurring/recurring  grant  under  'ICT  and  Digital Initiatives' is available to the States and UTs for following two options:

Option I: Under this option schools which have not availed the ICT facility earlier can either opt for ICT or smart classrooms as per their requirement and need. In case of more than  700  enrolment,  an  additional  ICT  lab  can  also  be  considered.  States/UTs  have flexibility  to  procure  hardware  such  as  tablets/  laptops/notebooks/  integrated  teaching learning devices and open-source operating system as well as Hardware, Software, training and  resource  support.  This  would  include  support  for  digital  boards,  smart  classrooms, virtual classrooms and DTH channels on pro-rata basis for number of schools approved.

Option II :  Under this option schools which have already availed the ICT facility earlier can avail smart classrooms/tablets as per the norms of the scheme.

Financial Provisions: A non-recurring grant of up to Rs. 6.40 lakh per school and recurring grant of upto Rs. 2.40 lakh per school per annum for a period of 5 years.

As  per  PRABANDH  portal,  till  31.05.2025,  a  total  of  1,56,213  ICT  Labs  have  been approved across the country, with financial approval of Rs. 7,311.93 crore to States and UTs.

Additionally,  to  saturate  all  functional  secondary  and  senior  secondary  schools  with  ICT Labs, a total of 20,456 ICT Labs have been approved, with financial approval of Rs. 911.13 Crore under Samagra Shiksha.

Under PM SHRI guidelines, there is a provision for ICT and Digital Initiatives for Classes VI to XII. Under this component, non- recurring grant of up to ₹ 10.00 lakh per school is available for  ICT/  smart  classrooms/  and  adopting  futuristic  technologies  such  as-  such  as-  IT,  Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, 3-D printing, IOT, technology, Data Analytic, Business Intelligence,  Augmented  Reality/  Virtual  Reality,  Cyber  Security,  Data  Science,  Robotics,  etc. Further, a recurring grant of up to ₹ 2.50 lakh per school is available for procurement of e-content, inclusive software/apps/devices, digital resources, electricity charges, and technical support.

The Government  has established three Centres of Excellence (CoEs) in Artificial Intelligence,  focusing  on  healthcare,  agriculture,  and  sustainable  cities.  These  CoEs  are  led  by premier  institutions:  IIT  Kanpur,  which  leads  sustainable  cities,  IISc  Bangalore,  which  leads healthcare  and  IIT  Ropar,  which  leads  the  agriculture  sector.  The  budget  outlay  for  these  three CoEs is  Rs.  990  crores.  The  Government  has  also  announced  a  Centre  of  Excellence  in  AI  for Education with a financial outlay of Rs. 500 crores. Premier institutions are also setting up AI Skill Centres focused on frontier technologies such as AI, machine learning, data science, and quantum computing.  Faculty  development  programs,  upgraded  digital  infrastructure,  and  platforms  like SWAYAM and One Nation  One  Subscription  (ONOS)  further  support  AI-based  education  and access to global research.

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