Lok Sabha Question No. 314 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-02
Subject: Interventions under Samagra Shiksha Scheme
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Dr. Shivaji Bandappa Kalge, Shri Dileshwar Kamait, Shri Nilesh Dnyandev Lanke

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO314

ANSWERED ON- 02/02/2026

## INTERVENTIONS UNDER SAMAGRA SHIKSHA SCHEME

†314. Shri Dileshwar Kamait: Shri Nilesh Dnyandev Lanke: Dr. Shivaji Bandappa Kalge:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of major interventions including universal access, gender equality, inclusive the country under the Samagra Shiksha Scheme, State/UT- wise;
- education, digital initiatives, vocational education and teacher training being undertaken in (b) the names of the districts covered under this scheme so far especially in the aspirational and educationally backward areas of Maharashtra; (c) the details of the results achieved so far under the scheme particularly in terms of learnings outcomes, transition rates and improvement in the quality of education especially in aspirational and educationally backward districts of Maharashtra; and (d)  whether  any  steps  have  been  taken  by  the  Government  to  promote  the  use  of technology,  strengthen  institutional  mechanisms  and  ensure  effective  convergence  and monitoring to realize the vision of inclusive and equitable quality education and if so, the
- details thereof, State/UT-wise including Maharashtra?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (d): The Department of School Education and Literacy is implementing an Integrated Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  for  School  Education-  Samagra  Shiksha  since  2018-19 across the country, including the State of Maharashtra. The scheme has been aligned with the recommendations of the National Education Policy, 2020 with aim to ensure that all children have access to qualitative and holistic 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 scheme, financial assistance is provided to States and UTs for undertaking various activities for universalization of school education, including opening/strengthening of new schools upto senior secondary level, construction of school buildings & additional classrooms,  development/strengthening  of  school  infrastructure  in  border  areas  under Vibrant Village Programme through the convergence of existing scheme of DOSEL, setting up, construction of hostels for PVTGs under PM-JANMAN, setting up of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Avasiya Vidyalayas, construction  of  hostels under  Dharti  Aaba  Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan for unsaturated ST population, free uniforms to eligible children and free  text  books  at  elementary  level,  transport  allowance  and  undertaking  enrolment  & retention drives. Special training for age-appropriate admission of out of school children and residential as well as non-residential training for older children, seasonal hostels / residential camps, special training centers at worksites, transport/ escort facility etc. are also supported to bring out of school children to the formal schooling system.

Bridging gender and social category gaps at all levels of school education is one of the major objectives of Samagra Shiksha. In order to ensure greater participation of girls in school education, Samagra Shiksha promotes opening of schools in the neighbourhood to make access easier for girls, free uniform to  eligible girls and text-books to girls up to Class VIII,  additional  teachers  and  residential  quarters  for  teachers  in  remote/hilly  areas, appointment of additional teachers including women teachers, stipend to CWSN girls from class 1 to class XII, separate toilets for girls, teachers sensitization programmes to promote girls  participation,  gender-sensitive  teaching-learning  materials  including  text  books.  In addition, to reduce gender gaps at all levels of school education and ensure access and quality  education  to  girls,  Kasturba  Gandhi  Balika  Vidyalayas  (KGBVs)  -  which  are residential schools for girls are operational.

Inclusive Education component of Samagra Shiksha, provides support to CwSN via specific  student-oriented  interventions  such  as  identification  and  assessment  camps, provision  of  aids,  appliances  and  assistive  devices,  scribe,  transportation  and  escort allowance support, Braille books and large print books, stipend for girls with special needs and  teaching-learning  materials  etc.  in  order  to  appropriately  address  their  unique educational  requirements  in  general  schools.  Further,  individualized  support  is  also provided through therapeutic interventions at the block level. Samagra Shiksha also has provisions  for  creation  of  differently-abled  friendly  infrastructure  such  as  ramps  with handrails and differently-abled friendly toilets for barrier free access in schools.

A  Digital  Initiative  -  PM  eVidya  -  unifies  all  efforts  related  to  digital/online/on-air education  to  enable  multi-mode  access  to  education  across  the  country.  PM  eVidya includes  200  DTH  TV  Channels  allotted  to  States/UTs/Autonomous  Bodies  (ABs)/Other Ministries  in  Government  of  India  and  400  Radio  channels  to  enable  them  to  provide supplementary education as per their requirement in various Indian languages for classes 1-12. Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA) is the Nation's One Nation, One Digital platform for providing quality e-content for school education in States/UTs along with QR coded Energised Textbooks (ETBs) for all grades.

Under Samagra Shiksha, financial assistance is provided to States/UTs, including rural and backward regions, inter-alia for setting up of ICT labs and smart classrooms in Government  and  Government  Aided Schools having classes VI to XII for nonrecurring/recurring grant under 'ICT and Digital Initiatives'.

Skill  Education  components  under  Samagra  Shiksha  aims  at  integrating  Skill Education with general academic education in all Secondary schools which is in alignment with the objective of NEP 2020; enhancing the employability and entrepreneurial abilities of the students, providing exposure to work environment; and generating awareness amongst students about various career options so as to enable them to make a choice in accordance with their aptitude, competence and aspirations.

National Initiative for School Heads' and Teachers' Holistic Advancement (NISHTHA) is  a  capacity  building  programme  for  "Improving  Quality  of  School  Education  through Integrated  Teacher Training".  NISHTHA  online  was  launched  using  DIKSHA  platform  in October, 2020. NISHTHA training has been extended to secondary stage teachers in 202122. NISHTHA also caters to Foundational Literacy and Numeracy and Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) for training of master trainers. Further, the Government has decided to  develop  all  functional  613  District  Institutes  of  Education  and  Training  (DIETs)  into Centers of Excellence in a phased manner starting from FY 2023-24.

PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024 was conducted on 4th December, 2024 to understand  the  baseline  performance  among  students  at  the  end  of  the  Foundational, Preparatory and Middle Stages in grade 3, 6 and 9. National, State and District level reports for PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024 are available at https://dashboard.parakh.ncert.gov.in/en. The findings of PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024 highlight a significant improvement when compared to National Achievement Survey (NAS 21) scores in foundational literacy and numeracy skills, thereby, reflecting the positive impact of the NIPUN Bharat Mission launched under NEP 2020. As per UDISE+ 2024-25 Report, the overall Transition Rates in Maharashtra are 99.5 percent, 98.4 percent and 79.2 percent for Primary to Upper Primary, Upper Primary to Secondary and Secondary to Higher Secondary, respectively. Samagra Shiksha aims at promoting decentralized management of school education. Under the Scheme, the Annual Plans are prepared by the States and UTs for all districts including  aspirational  districts,  keeping  in  view  their  districts'  educational  priorities  and requirements.  These plans are then assessed and appraised by the Project Approval Board in the Department and funds are released as per the norms of the Scheme and as per fund sharing pattern decided by the Ministry of Finance.

The  Scheme  has  robust  system  of  monitoring  through  Performance  Grading  Index (PGI)  2.0,  Unified  District  Information  System  for  Education  (UDISE),  Project  Appraisal Budgeting Achievement and Data Handling System (PRABANDH), Strengthening of BRCs and  CRCs,  PARAKH,  Audit  Mechanism,  Social  Audit,  Community  level  monitoring  and Periodic meeting with Stakeholders.

Need based convergence with different Ministries/Departments of the Central and State Governments has been an important part of planning and implementation under Samagra Shiksha.

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