Lok Sabha Question No. 69 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-07-18
Subject: Vidyanjali Programme
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: GAJANAN CHANDRAKANT KIRTIKAR, ASHOK SHANKARRAO CHAVAN, PARASURAMAN K., SUDHEER GUPTA, VIJAY KUMAR S.R., T. RADHAKRISHNAN, KUNWAR PUSHPENDRA SINGH CHANDEL

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.69 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18 th  JULY, 2016

## Vidyanjali Programme

69. SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR:

SHRI ASHOK SHANKARRAO CHAVAN:

SHRI K. PARASURAMAN:

- SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA:

SHRI S.R. VIJAYAKUMAR:

SHRI T. RADHAKRISHNAN:

SHRI KUNWAR PUSHPENDRA SINGH CHANDEL:

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

- (a) whether  the Government  has  launched  'Vidyanjali', a school volunteer programme recently and if so, the details thereof including the salient features and its aims and objectives;
- (b) the names of the States that will pilot the said programme;
- (c) the extent to which the same has achieved success and the time by which the said programme is likely to cover all the States in the country; and
- (d)  the  steps  taken/  being  taken  by  the  Government  to  inculcate  reading  habits among  children  and  reading  culture  at  schools  and  community  level  in  the country?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SHRI. PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)

(a):    Yes,  Madam.  'Vidyanjali',  a  School  Volunteer  programme was launched on 16 th June,  2016.  It  is  an  initiative  to  enhance  community  and  private  sector involvement in Government schools to strengthen implementation of co-scholastic activities through the services of volunteers.

Volunteers under  the  programme  will  offer  their  services  to  Government schools  through  an  online  portal  developed  by  MyGov.in.  The  Volunteers  will conduct  one  or  more  co-scholastic  activities  with  children  such  as  reading  to children;  helping  children  with  creative  writing;  public  speaking;  play  acting  and preparing story books.

- (b): The programme is being piloted across 21 States/UTs namely Assam, Andhra Pradesh,  Bihar,  Chhattisgarh,  Delhi,  Haryana,  Himachal  Pradesh,  Jammu  &

Kashmir,  Gujarat,  Goa,  Karnataka,  Madhya  Pradesh,  Maharashtra,  Manipur, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana, Tripura, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. (c): As  per  the  data  made  available  with  the  website  Mygov.in,  so  far,  2005 schools  have  registered  with  the  Vidyanjali  Application  (App)  while,  2084  Apps. have been downloaded and 1216 volunteers have logged in and registered for 815 activities in various schools. The program is voluntary in nature and  States/UTs that are willing may join the programme. (d): The  Ministry  of  Human  Resource  Development  has  taken  many  steps  to inculcate  reading  habits  among  children  and  reading  culture  at  school  and community  level  in  the  country.    The  Padhe  Bharat  Badhe  Bharat  (PBBB)  was launched in August, 2014 as a sub-programme of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) with  the  aim  to  ensure  quality  at  the  foundational  years  of  schooling.  The objectives  of  the  programme  are  to  promote  early  reading  and  writing  with comprehension skills  in  children,  and  also  basic  numeracy  skills.    The  activities under PBBB include having dedicated teachers for classes I and II, setting up of reading  corners  in  classrooms,  providing  libraries  in  schools,  having  dedicated period for reading in the school time table and availability of a variety of reading material in the form of supplementary readers for children.

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