Parliament Question: Establishment of New Central Educational Institutions

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4927 ANSWERED ON 23.03.2026 Establishment of New Central Educational Institutions †4927. Shri Devesh Shakya:

Shri Babu Singh Kushwaha:

Shri Neeraj Maurya:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government proposes to establish new Central educational institutions or vocational/skill-based colleges for the benefit of the youth of agriculture-dominated areas such as Etah, Kasganj, Jaunpur, Badaun and Bareilly districts and Aonla in Uttar Pradesh, if so, the details thereof;

(b) the amount of funds sanctioned and utilised for the development of laboratories and digital infrastructure in Government colleges in the districts of Etah, Kasganj, Jaunpur, Badaun and Bareilly under the Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (PM-USHA) during the last three years;

(c) whether the Government proposes to provide financial assistance or special grants for introducing special courses in local colleges in Jaunpur, Etah, Kasganj and Aonla region to promote agri-entrepreneurship, if so, the details thereof; and

(d) whether the Government has established any special monitoring mechanism or support system to address the difficulties faced by rural students while availing educational loans, especially in the district of Etah, Kasganj and Jaunpur, if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (Dr. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR)

(a) to (c): In the State of Uttar Pradesh, there are 15 centrally funded institutions including Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Aligarh, University of Allahabad, Prayagraj, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, Indian Institute of Technology, Varanasi (BHU), Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology (MNNIT) Prayagraj, Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Allahabad, etc.The government has launched the third phase of Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan

(RUSA) in June 2023 in the form of Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (PM-USHA), with an outlay of Rs. 12,926.10 crore, including the committed liabilities of the earlier phases of RUSA, to cater to the needs of educationally unserved/ underserved areas. PM-USHA is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme aimed at funding specific State government universities and colleges, so as to improve their quality by ensuring their conformity to prescribed norms and standards.

In the State of Uttar Pradesh, under various components of the scheme, a total of 204 units, for an amount of Rs. 1942.27 Cr (Out of this, central share of Rs. 1173.06 Cr) have been approved including 17 projects amounting to Rs. 217.64 Cr under components New Model Degree Colleges, Multi-Disciplinary Education and Research Universities (MERU), Grants to Strengthen Universities (GSU) and Grants to Strengthen Colleges (GSC) in the district of Etah, Kasganj, Jaunpur, Badaun and Bareilly. Furthermore, under various components of the scheme, States/ UTs may undertake several activities such as (i) setting up start-up incubation centres and technology development centres for skill-based courses with the help of Industries/ Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME); (ii) MoUs signed with industry for internship/ research/ entrepreneurship/ employment; (iii) placement/ training and certification programmes, structural reforms according to the increased industry-ready courses and industry-academia linkages; (iv) internship/ apprenticeship embedded degree programme; (v) vocational courses for 21st-century skills, internships/ training regarding vocational education;

(vi) focus on skilling and vocationalization training/ workshops/ placement for females,

transgenders: (vii) establishing equivalence and mobility to the students through National Credit Framework (NCrF); (viii) National Higher Education Qualification Framework; (ix) Academic Bank of Credit (ABC), multiple entry/exit; (x) offering of courses and books / course materials in Indian Languages etc.

(d): To address the difficulties faced by rural students while availing educational loans, a dedicated online platform, the PM Vidyalaxmi portal https://pmvidyalaxmi.co.in has been developed on which students, including students from rural area can apply for the education loan as well as interest subvention, through a simplified application process to be used by all banks. This portal has started operating from 25th February 2025. Loans are made accessible through a simple, transparent, student-friendly and entirely digital application process, with a simple 2-page application format from a longer 7–8 page format used earlier. A 24X7 toll-free helpline 1800 1031 for PMVL portal applications is operational to help the students, HEIs and Banks in different stages of application process. More than 25,000 education loans have been sanctioned to students of Uttar Pradesh through the PM-Vidyalaxmi portal in the year 2025-26 (till Feb 2026).

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