Lok Sabha Question No. 1533 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-09
Subject: Identifying of Educationally Backward Districts
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Shri Ramasahayam Raghuram Reddy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

## DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-1533 ANSWERED ON-09/02/2026

## Identifying of Educationally Backward Districts

## 1533. Shri Ramasahayam Raghuram Reddy:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  identified  educationally  backward  districts  in  the  country especially  in  Scheduled  Caste  and  Scheduled  Tribe  dominated  areas,  if  so,  the  details thereof;
- (b) if not, the reasons for not identifying educationally backward districts;
- (c) whether there are any challenges in gathering reliable data or assessing the educational needs in these regions and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether  the  Government  has  alternative  methods  or  strategies  to  address  educational backwardness in SC/ST communities without specifically identifying backward districts;
- (e) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons thereof;
- (f) whether there is any plan to initiate such identification in the future and if so, the details thereof along with the timeline for the same; and
- (g) if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (g): Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education had identified Educationally Backward Blocks (EBB) in States/UTs, where the female rural literacy rate was below the national average. Under the erstwhile Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) were sanctioned in EBB as residential schools at upper primary level for girls belonging to disadvantaged groups such as SC, ST, OBC, Minority and Below Poverty Line (BPL).

However, with the launch of the Aspirational  Districts  Programme  by  NITI  Aayog  in  January 2018  to  improve  social  outcomes,  including  education,  in  backward  districts,  government programmes are now aligned to meet the infrastructure and educational needs of the country's Aspirational  Districts.  There  are  112  Aspirational  Districts  across  26  States  and  1  Union Territory. State wise list of Aspirational Districts is given in Annexure-I.

Further, the Aspirational Blocks Programme (ABP) was launched by the Hon'ble Prime Minister on January 7, 2023, during the 2nd National Conference of Chief Secretaries. This transformational programme focuses on improving governance to enhance the quality of life of citizens in the most difficult and underdeveloped blocks of India by converging existing schemes, defining outcomes, and monitoring them on a constant basis.

The data in respect to the aspirational districts and block is timely captured through Champion of Change  portal  of  NITI  Aayog.  Further,  the  Department  of  School  Education  &  Literacy (DoSE&L) also has a Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+ portal) to monitor the education indicators of the schools.

This Department is focused on universal access to schooling for all from pre-primary to Class XII through  the  Integrated  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  for  School  Education  namely  Samagra Shiksha  Abhiyan  launched  with  effect  from  the  year  2018-19.    The  Government,  through  the Samagra Shiksha and PM SHRI schemes, along with other interventions, supports States and UTs in strengthening government and government-aided schools through targeted measures aimed at improving  infrastructure,  quality,  and  equity  in  education.  Under  the  scheme,  assistance  is provided  for  the  creation  and  upgradation  of  school  infrastructure  such  as  classrooms,  toilets, drinking water facilities, ICT facilities, and barrier-free access, along with support for teachinglearning  materials  and  digital  initiatives  to  improve  learning  outcomes,  with  special  focus  on Aspirational  Districts/Blocks.  Further,  special  focus  on  SC/ST/EBBs  is  provided  through  the following interventions under Samagra Shiksha:

- i. Kasturba  Gandhi  Balika  Vidyalayas  (KGBVs): Under  Samagra  Shiksha,  there  is  a provision of KGBVs which are residential schools from Class VI to XII for girls belonging to disadvantaged groups such as SC, ST, OBC, Minority and Below Poverty Line (BPL). The KGBVs  are  set  up  in  Educationally  Backward  Blocks.  The  objective  behind  establishing KGBVs  is  to  ensure  access  and  quality  education  to  girls  from  disadvantaged  groups  by setting  up  residential  schools  and  to  reduce  gender  gaps  at  all  levels  of  school  education. Currently,  total  5269  KGBVs  are  functional  with  enrolment  of  7,58,288  girls  (including 1,77,009 ST girls and 2,06, 297 SC girls).
- ii. Netaji  Subhash  Chandra  Bose  Awasiya  Vidyalayas  (NSCBAVs)Samagra  Shiksha supports the provision of residential facilities under the intervention entitled NSCBAVs, with the primary purpose of reaching out to girls, urban deprived and other disadvantaged children and creating equitable access to school education in remote, sparsely populated and difficult to reach areas, hilly terrains, areas affected by LWE, large uninhabited areas with natural barriers like forests, waterways, rivers, etc.
- iii. Pradhan Mantri Janjati  Adivasi  Nyaya  Maha  Abhiyan  (PM-JANMAN) which  aims  to saturate Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) households and habitations with basic facilities  such  as  safe  housing,  clean  drinking  water  and  sanitation,  improved  access  to education, health and nutrition, road and telecom connectivity, electrification of unelectrified households and sustainable livelihood opportunities in a mission mode. Ministry of Education, DoSE&L is one of the  participating  Ministries  in  the  Abhiyan  and  PM-JANMAN  is  being implemented  in  convergence  with  Samagra  Shiksha  Scheme.  As  on  date,  total  500  hostels have been sanctioned under PM-JANMAN.
- iv. Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan (DA-JGUA): It aims at saturation of more than 63,000 tribal majority villages and tribal villages in Aspirational Districts with specified

interventions.  Ministry  of  Education,  DoSE&L  is  one  of  the  participating  Ministries  in  the Abhiyan  and  that  DAJGUA  is  being  implemented  in  convergence  with  Samagra  Shiksha Scheme of this Department. So far, DoSEL has approved 692 Hostels under DA-JGUA.

- v. RTE Entitlement -

Provision of Free Uniform: Samagra Shiksha provides support for two sets of uniform to all girls, SC, ST children and Below Poverty Line (BPL) children at an average cost of Rs.  600/per child per annum, wherever State Governments have incorporated the provision of school uniforms as a student entitlement in their State RTE Rules.

- vi. Besides, the Department is also implementing schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising  India  (PM  SHRI),  to  provide  adequate  school  infrastructure  (including  digital), teaching  learning  material,  teacher  support,  PM  POSHAN  scheme  (Pradhan  Mantri  Poshan Shakti  Nirman)  for  providing  nutrition  through  mid-day  meals  in  schools,  National  Means cum  Merit  Scholarship  Scheme  (NMMSS)-  merit  scholarship  for  EWS  students  so  as  to improve  the  learning  outcomes  of  all  students  in  all  States  and  UTs,  with  special  focus  on aspirational districts.
- vii. Separately, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment is implementing the Pradhan Mantri Anusuchit Jaati Abhyuday Yojana (PM-AJAY) which is  a  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme, which consist of three components namely Adarsh Gram, Grant-In-Aid and Hostel. One of its components  namely  'Hostel'  aims  at  providing  central  assistance  for  construction  of  new Hostel  buildings  for  Scheduled  Castes  (SC)  Students  (separately  for  Boys  and  Girls).  The hostels  are  taken  up  for  construction  based  on  the  proposals  received  from  respective  State Governments/Central Universities.

******

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (A)  TO  (G)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  1533  ANSWERED  ON  09.02.2026  ASKED  BY  SHRI RAMASAHAYAM  RAGHURAM  REDDY,  HON'BLE  MEMBER  OF  PARLIAMENT REGARDING IDENTIFYING EDUCATIONALLY BACKWARD DISTRICTS.

List of 112 Aspirational Districts

|   S. No. | State             | District             |
|----------|-------------------|----------------------|
|        1 | Andhra Pradesh    | Alluri Sitharamaraju |
|        2 | Andhra Pradesh    | Parvathipuram Manyam |
|        3 | Andhra Pradesh    | Y.S.R.               |
|        4 | Arunachal Pradesh | Namsai               |
|        5 | Assam             | Goalpara             |
|        6 | Assam             | Barpeta              |
|        7 | Assam             | Hailakandi           |
|        8 | Assam             | Baksa                |
|        9 | Assam             | Darrang              |
|       10 | Assam             | Udalguri             |
|       11 | Assam             | Dhubri               |
|       12 | Bihar             | Sitamarhi            |
|       13 | Bihar             | Araria               |
|       14 | Bihar             | Purnia               |
|       15 | Bihar             | Katihar              |
|       16 | Bihar             | Muzaffarpur          |
|       17 | Bihar             | Begusarai            |
|       18 | Bihar             | Khagaria             |
|       19 | Bihar             | Banka                |
|       20 | Bihar             | Sheikhpura           |
|       21 | Bihar             | Aurangabad           |
|       22 | Bihar             | Gaya                 |
|       23 | Bihar             | Nawada               |
|       24 | Bihar             | Jamui                |
|       25 | Chhattisgarh      | Korba                |
|       26 | Chhattisgarh      | Rajnandgaon          |
|       27 | Chhattisgarh      | Mahasamund           |
|       28 | Chhattisgarh      | Kanker               |
|       29 | Chhattisgarh      | Narayanpur           |
|       30 | Chhattisgarh      | Dantewada            |
|       31 | Chhattisgarh      | Bijapur              |
|       32 | Chhattisgarh      | Bastar               |
|       33 | Chhattisgarh      | Kondagaon            |

|   S. No. | State                | District            |
|----------|----------------------|---------------------|
|       34 | Chhattisgarh         | Sukma               |
|       35 | Gujarat              | Dahod               |
|       36 | Gujarat              | Narmada             |
|       37 | Haryana              | Mewat               |
|       38 | Himachal Pradesh     | Chamba              |
|       39 | UT of Jammu &Kashmir | Kupwara             |
|       40 | UT of Jammu &Kashmir | Baramulla           |
|       41 | Jharkhand            | Garhwa              |
|       42 | Jharkhand            | Chatra              |
|       43 | Jharkhand            | Giridih             |
|       44 | Jharkhand            | Godda               |
|       45 | Jharkhand            | Sahibganj           |
|       46 | Jharkhand            | Pakur               |
|       47 | Jharkhand            | Bokaro              |
|       48 | Jharkhand            | Lohardaga           |
|       49 | Jharkhand            | Purbi Singhbhum     |
|       50 | Jharkhand            | Palamu              |
|       51 | Jharkhand            | Latehar             |
|       52 | Jharkhand            | Hazaribagh          |
|       53 | Jharkhand            | Ramgarh             |
|       54 | Jharkhand            | Dumka               |
|       55 | Jharkhand            | Ranchi              |
|       56 | Jharkhand            | Khunti              |
|       57 | Jharkhand            | Gumla               |
|       58 | Jharkhand            | Simdega             |
|       59 | Jharkhand            | Pashchimi Singhbhum |
|       60 | Karnataka            | Raichur             |
|       61 | Karnataka            | Yadgir              |
|       62 | Kerala               | Wayanad             |
|       63 | Madhya Pradesh       | Chhatarpur          |
|       64 | Madhya Pradesh       | Damoh               |
|       65 | Madhya Pradesh       | Barwani             |
|       66 | Madhya Pradesh       | Rajgarh             |
|       67 | Madhya Pradesh       | Vidisha             |
|       68 | Madhya Pradesh       | Guna                |
|       69 | Madhya Pradesh       | Singrauli           |
|       70 | Madhya Pradesh       | Khandwa             |
|       71 | Maharashtra          | Nandurbar           |
|       72 | Maharashtra          | Washim              |
|       73 | Maharashtra          | Gadchiroli          |
|       74 | Maharashtra          | Osmanabad           |
|       75 | Manipur              | Chandel             |

|   S. No. | State         | District             |
|----------|---------------|----------------------|
|       76 | Meghalaya     | Ribhoi               |
|       77 | Mizoram       | Mamit                |
|       78 | Nagaland      | Kiphire              |
|       79 | Odisha        | Dhenkanal            |
|       80 | Odisha        | Gajapati             |
|       81 | Odisha        | Kandhamal            |
|       82 | Odisha        | Balangir             |
|       83 | Odisha        | Kalahandi            |
|       84 | Odisha        | Rayagada             |
|       85 | Odisha        | Koraput              |
|       86 | Odisha        | Malkangiri           |
|       87 | Odisha        | Nabarangpur          |
|       88 | Odisha        | Nuapada              |
|       89 | Punjab        | Moga                 |
|       90 | Punjab        | Firozpur             |
|       91 | Rajasthan     | Dholpur              |
|       92 | Rajasthan     | Karauli              |
|       93 | Rajasthan     | Jaisalmer            |
|       94 | Rajasthan     | Sirohi               |
|       95 | Rajasthan     | Baran                |
|       96 | Sikkim        | Soreng               |
|       97 | Tamil Nadu    | Virudhunagar         |
|       98 | Tamil Nadu    | Ramanathapuram       |
|       99 | Telangana     | Asifabad             |
|      100 | Telangana     | Bhoopalapally        |
|      101 | Telangana     | Bhadradri-Kothagudem |
|      102 | Tripura       | Dhalai               |
|      103 | Uttar Pradesh | Chitrakoot           |
|      104 | Uttar Pradesh | Fatehpur             |
|      105 | Uttar Pradesh | Bahraich             |
|      106 | Uttar Pradesh | Shrawasti            |
|      107 | Uttar Pradesh | Balrampur            |
|      108 | Uttar Pradesh | Siddharthnagar       |
|      109 | Uttar Pradesh | Chandauli            |
|      110 | Uttar Pradesh | Sonbhadra            |
|      111 | Uttarakhand   | Udham Singh Nagar    |
|      112 | Uttarakhand   | Haridwar             |