Lok Sabha Question No. 3902 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-16
Subject: Tribal Education and Welfare Schemes in Hingoli
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Shri Aashtikar Patil Nagesh Bapurao

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

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3902 ANSWERED ON - 16/03/2026

## Tribal Education and Welfare Schemes in Hingoli

3902.  Shri Aashtikar Patil Nagesh Bapurao:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is aware that in the tribal-dominated areas of Hingoli Lok Sabha  Constituency  in  Maharashtra,  benefits  of  education-related  welfare  schemes such  as  scholarships, hostels, Ashram  schools,  digital education  initiatives  and infrastructure schemes are not reaching students in a timely and effective manner, if so, the details thereof;
- (b)  whether  it  is  a  fact  that  tribal  students  are  facing  problems  such  as  delay  in scholarship disbursement, poor basic facilities in Ashram schools and hostels, shortage of  teachers,  lack  of  digital  connectivity  and  inadequate  learning  resources  in  remote villages, if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the steps taken by the Government to address these issues and to improve access to quality education in tribal areas of Hingoli; and
- (d) whether any special monitoring mechanism, inspection teams or targeted educational action plan has been proposed for the said constituency, if so, the details thereof?

## A N S W E R MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY)

(a)  to  (c):  Education  being  a  subject  in  the  Concurrent  List  of  the  Constitution,  an overwhelming  majority  of  the  schools  in  the  country  come  under  the  administrative control of States/UTs. The  Department  of School Education and Literacy is implementing  centrally  sponsored  schemes  for  School  education-  Samagra  Shiksha. Samagra Shiksha considers  school  education  holistically,  without  segmentation  from pre-primary  to  class  XII  and  is  aligned  with  the  recommendations  of  the  National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. It aims to ensure that all children have access to quality education  with  an  equitable  and  inclusive  classroom  environment  which  should  take care  of  their  diverse  background,  multilingual  needs,  different  academic  abilities  and make them active participants in the learning process.

Under the Samagra Shiksha Scheme, financial support is provided to the State/ UTs including Maharashtra for creation of infrastructure and basic facilities for the components like, construction of additional classrooms, toilets for Girls and Boys with running  water  facilities  as  well  as  CwSN  toilets,  boundary  walls,  Science  Labs, Computers Labs, Library Room, Ramps, Major Repairs, Supply of Furniture etc. In this regard,  the  States  and  UTs  prepare  their  Annual  Work  Plan  and  Budget  (AWP&B) based on their requirements and priorities and submit to the Ministry of Education prior to the beginning of every financial year. The same is considered and appraised/approved  by  Project  Approval  Board  (PAB)  in  consultation  with  the  States and UTs as per the schematic/ programmatic and financial norms of the Scheme and physical  and  financial  progress  of  the  State  for  the  interventions  approved  earlier. Thereafter, the Central releases its share in instalments to State/UTs and interventionwise releases are not made. The State further releases the fund to the  District, Block and  Government  Schools  on  the  approvals  for  implementation  of  the  interventions provided under Samagra Shiksha.

The Ministry of Education, under Samagra Shiksha, provides financial assistance to the  states  and  UTs,  including  the  State of Maharashtra, for  opening  and  running  of Residential Schools and Hostels (Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Avasiva Vidyalayas) in  hilly  terrain,  small  and  sparsely  populated  areas  for  children  who  are  in  need  of shelter  and  care,  in  addition  to  the  provision  of  regular  schools.  The  objective  is  to ensure  universal  enrolment  and  provide  schooling  facilities  in  areas  which  are sparsely populated (mostly tribal areas) where opening of schools may not be viable and for children in urban areas who are in need of care and protection. The residential facilities  are  also  provided  to  child  labour  rescued,  migrant  children  who  belong  to poor landless families, children without adult protection, separated from their families, internally displaced persons, and children from the areas of social and armed conflict and natural calamities. Preference is given to EBBs, LWE affected districts, SFDs and the Aspirational districts identified by NITI Aayog.

Under Samagra Shiksha, there is also a provision of KGBVs. KGBVs are residential schools  for  girls  belonging  to  Socio-Economically  Disadvantaged  Groups  (SEDGs) such  as  Schedule  Tribe,  Schedule  Caste,  Other  Backward  Class  and  others  in

Educationally  Backward  Blocks  (EBBs).  The  objective  of  the  scheme  is  to  ensure access to quality education for girls from SEDGs and reduce the gender gap at the elementary to senior secondary level (class VI-XII) by setting up residential schools with boarding facilities.

Pradhan  Mantri Janjati  Adivasi  Nyaya  Maha  Abhiyan  (PM-  JANMAN)  targets development of 75 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) residing in 18 states and UT of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Abhiyan envisages saturation of basic facilities, including Education, in these villages by adopting the whole of Government approach in convergence with line ministries. M/o Tribal Affairs (MoTA) is the nodal ministry for implementation of PM JANMAN. The Ministry of Education is one of the participating  Ministries  in  the  Abhiyan  and  PM-JANMAN  is  being  implemented  in convergence with Samagra Shiksha Scheme of this Department. The scheme targets construction of 500 hostels during the period from 2023-24 to 2025-26.

The Dharti  Aaba  Janjatiya  Gram  Utkarsh  Abhiyan  (DA-JGUA)  aims  at  saturation  of more than 63,000 tribal majority villages and tribal villages in Aspirational Districts with specified  interventions.  Ministry  of  Education  is  one  of  the  participating  Ministries  in the  Abhiyan and that DAJGUA is being implemented in convergence with Samagra Shiksha  Scheme of this  Department.  DAJGUA  scheme  has  a  run  over  period  from 2024-25  to  2028-29,  targeting  construction  1000  hostels  under  Samagra  Shiksha during the period.

The  Central  Sector  'National  Means-cum-Merit  Scholarship  Scheme  (NMMSS)'  is open  to  the  students  irrespective  of  categories/gender.  However,  reservation  is provided  under  the  scheme  as  per  the  State  Government  norms.  Under  NMMS scheme,  funds  are  not  released  to  States/UTs  and  scholarship  amount  is  directly credited  to  the  students'  bank  accounts  through  DBT.    Applications  of  the  students received on National Scholarship Portal (NSP) from all States/UTs are considered for sanction of scholarship amount.

The  Ministry  of  Education  implements  ICT  and  Digital  initiatives  under  Samagra Shiksha  to  enhance  digital  learning  in  Government  schools  across  the  country, including  rural  areas  of  Maharashtra.  The  initiatives  aim  to  enhance  the  quality  of education  by  integrating  technology  into  teaching  and  learning  processes.  Under  the initiatives, funds are provided for setting up ICT Labs and Smart Classrooms according to  the  requirements  of  the  State  submitted  in  the  Annual  Work  Plan  &  Budget (AWP&B). The ICT scheme offers two options:

1.  Option  I:  Schools  without  prior  ICT  facilities  can  choose  ICT  labs  or  smart classrooms. Schools with over 700 students may get an additional ICT lab. States/UTs can  procure  hardware,  software,  tablets,  laptops,  and  training  resources,  supporting digital boards, virtual classrooms, and DTH channels.

2. Option II: Schools with existing ICT facilities can access smart classrooms or tablets under the scheme norms.

A  comprehensive  initiative  called  PM  eVidya  was  initiated  as  part  of  Atma  Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan on 17th May, 2020, which unifies all efforts related to digital/online/onair education to enable multi-mode access to education across the country. States/UTs collaborate  with  NCERT  to  utilise,  monitor  and  evaluate  the  effectiveness  of  these initiatives as per their requirements. NCERT also provides regular guidance/ feedback to States/UTs on the quality of these initiatives. The key components of PM eVidya are also  aligned  towards  enhancing  digital  literacy  and  include  200  DTH  TV  channels. These channels were launched on 9th March 2024 by Hon'ble Education Minister. As per  the  Union  Budget  announcement  for  Financial  Year  2022-23,  12  DTH  channels have been expanded to 200 PM eVidya DTH TV channels and 400 Radio channels to enable all States/UTs to provide supplementary education in various Indian languages for  classes  1-12.  The  State  of  Maharashtra  has  been  allotted  five  channels  (MH  PM eVIDYA 113 to MH PM eVIDYA 117) under the 'PM eVidya' initiative of the Ministry of Education. Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA) is the Nation's digital infrastructure for providing quality e-content for school education in States/UTs and QR coded Energised Textbooks (ETBs) for all grades (One Nation, One Digital platform). To promote crucial critical thinking skills and to give space for creativity, more than 614 Virtual  Labs  have  been  created  and  made  available  on  the  DIKSHA  platform. Additionally, the Government of India, in the Budget 2025, has announced provision of broadband connectivity to all Government Secondary schools in rural areas, including 303 schools from  Maharashtra  in  phase  1,  under  the  'BharatNet'  project  to  enhance digital infrastructure in remote areas by BSNL in a phased manner.

State  of  Maharashtra  has  reported  that  as  per  UDISE  2025-26  out  of  the  1,789 Government  schools  in  this  constituency,  all  schools  (100%)  are  equipped  with buildings and access to drinking water, ensuring a strong basic infrastructure foundation. In addition, 95% of schools have boys' toilets, 97% have girls' toilets, 92% are  electrified,  and  86%  are  secured  with  boundary  walls,  reflecting  substantial progress in providing safe and supportive learning environments for students.  As per the  UDISE  2025-26  data  -  549  schools  have  smart  classrooms.  Samagra  Shiksha Scheme  has  operationalized  one  Kasturba  Gandhi  Balika  Vidyalaya  (KGBV)  in  the district to support girls from disadvantaged backgrounds, with continuous monitoring of attendance, academic progress, and socio-emotional well-being. In Hingoli Lok Sabha Constituency  there  are  8  hostels  sanctioned  under  PM-DAJGUA  and  1  hostel sanctioned  under  PM-JANMAN  Scheme.  As  per  the  Project  Approval  Board  of Samagra Shiksha for the year 2025-26: Smart Classrooms in 68 Schools, ICT Labs in 60 Schools, Digital Library in 113 schools and Internet provision through BSNL in 75 secondary schools are approved.

Also, use of the District Planning Committee funds and CSR funds has been mandated for school infrastructure. Special monitoring mechanisms have also been instituted by the State which includes VSK-enabled real-time monitoring, Social Audit processes to strengthen community oversight and transparency in school functioning.

(d):    The  Department  of  School  Education  and  Literacy,  from  time  to  time,  through review meetings and advisories, requests the State Governments and UT administrations to fill up teacher vacancies and infrastructure gaps. Also, the Ministry of Education has issued guidelines and directives to all  States  and  Union  Territories  to take urgent steps to ensure student safety and well-being. Further, this Department has launched  a  comprehensive  online  monitoring  system  called  PRABANDH  (Project Appraisal, Budgeting Achievements and Data Handling). The system enables Ministry of Education and States & UTs to monitor the releases, expenditure, intervention wise progress and other scheme related information.

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