Parliament Question: Initiatives to Reduce Urban- Rural Gap in Quality Education

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY LOKSABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-4999 ANSWERED ON –23/03/2026 INITIATIVES TO REDUCE URBAN- RURAL GAP IN QUALITY EDUCATION 4999. Smt. Roopkumari Choudhary: Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state: (a) the details of progress achieved under Samagra Shiksha during the last three years, including State-wise allocation, utilisation of funds and development of infrastructure such as additional classrooms, laboratories, libraries and ICT facilities in Government schools; (b) whether the Government has prepared a time-bound national roadmap for 2025–30 to expand digital infrastructure, including smart classrooms, broadband connectivity and ICT laboratories in Government schools, particularly in rural, tribal and aspirational districts and if so,the details thereof; (c) whether in line with National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the Government proposes to establish model schools, skill laboratories and technology-enabled learning centres to reduce the urban–rural gap in quality education and if so, the details thereof; (d) whether any policy initiative has been proposed to integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI), digital learning platforms and hybrid learning models in school education, if so, the details thereof; and (e) whether the Government proposes to create a national monitoring framework to track learning outcomes, infrastructure quality and digital adoption in schools and if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY) (a): The State-wise details of Central share funds allocated and released is at Annexure-I. The details of development of infrastructure such as additional classrooms, laboratories, libraries and ICT facilities in Government schools under Samagra Shiksha for last 3 years is at Annexure-II.(b): Samagra Shiksha scheme has been envisaged as an additional support to the State and UTs to improve quality of education. However, education being in the concurrent list with majority of the schools under the domain of the State and UTs, the primary responsibility of providing accessible, affordable, equitable, inclusive and quality education lies with the State/UT Governments. Preference in the interventions is given to Educationally Backward Blocks (EBBs), LWE affected districts, Special Focus Districts (SFDs), Border areas and the Aspirational districts. The current scheme was approved for the period of 2021-22 to 2025-26. Restructuring of the scheme for the period of 2026-27 to 2031-2032 is under consideration. Government of India, in the Budget 2025, has announced provision of broadband connectivity to all Government Secondary schools in rural areas under the ‘BharatNet’ project to enhance digital infrastructure in remote areas by BSNL in a phased manner. (c) & (d): Under the centrally sponsored scheme of Samagra Shiksha, financial assistance is provided to the States and UTs for Universalization of School Education including opening/strengthening of new schools up to senior secondary level, construction of school buildings & additional classrooms, development/strengthening of school infrastructure in northern border areas under Vibrant Village Programme, setting up, up-gradation and running of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas, construction of hostels for PVTGs under PM-JANMAN, setting up of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose AvasiyaVidyalayas, construction of hostels under Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan for unsaturated ST population, reimbursement under RTE Act, various qualitative components, strengthening of teacher education and strengthening of DIETs/BRCs/CRCs, provision of ICT and digital interventions. Further, Department of School Education & Literacy sponsors Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI). It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme in which schools are set up by strengthening the existing schools from amongst schools managed by Central Government/State/UT Government/local bodies. These schools are to showcase all the initiatives of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, be the exemplar schools, and also offer benchmarking leadership to other schools in the neighbourhood. Till date, 13091 schools have been selected as PM SHRI schools in the country. The skill Education component under Samagra Shiksha provides for giving exposure to Vocational Education to students of Grades VI to VIII and introduction of vocational courses from Grades IX to XII, which are aligned with the National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) notified by the Government of India in 2013. The NSQF is a nationally integrated education and competency-based framework and organizes qualifications according to a series of levels of knowledge, skills, and aptitude. The government provides financial and infrastructural support through the Samagra Shiksha scheme and the Hub and Spoke Model. This model maximizes resource efficiency by allowing "Spoke" schools to utilize the high-quality laboratories and equipment available at "Hub" centers, such as ITIs, Polytechnics, or specialized PM SHRI schools. Digital content has been made available to teachers and students through a platform called Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA). It 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).The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 emphasises the importance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its role in school curriculum. Under “Curricular Integration of Essential Subjects, Skills, and Capacities”, the policy mentions in para 4.24 that concerted curricular and pedagogical initiatives, including the introduction of contemporary subjects such as Artificial Intelligence, Design Thinking, Holistic Health, Organic Living, Environmental Education, Global Citizenship Education (GCED), etc. at relevant stages will be undertaken to develop these various important skills in students at all levels. The Ministry of Education, Government of India implements ICT and Digital initiatives under Samagra Shiksha, aligned with NEP 2020. These initiatives aim to enhance the quality of education by integrating technology into learning and teaching processes. Under Samagra Shiksha, funding is provided for setting up of ICT labs in Schools and Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs). To facilitate online learning for all, 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/on-air education to enable multi-mode access to education across the country. 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 and now 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 channels have been allocated to the States/UTs and Autonomous Bodies under an MoU with NCERT and are operational. (e): Department of School Education & Literacy has developed Performance Grading Index, State (PGI) by combining 73 indicators from various domains of school education viz., learning outcomes, access outcomes, infrastructure, facilities, equity outcomes, etc. The PGI-State reports for the year from 2017-18 to 2023-24 can be accessed at https://pgi.udiseplus.gov.in/#/statepgi/home “PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024” was conducted across India on 04.12.2024, to understand the baseline performance in development of competencies among the students at the end of the Foundational, Preparatory, and Middle stages (Grades 3, 6, and 9 respectively). National, State and District level report cards for PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024 are available at https://dashboard.parakh.ncert.gov.in/en. ***ANNEXURE-I ANNEXURE-I REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4999 ANSWERED ON 23.03.2026 ASKED BY SMT. ROOPKUMARI CHOUDHARY HON’BLE MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT REGARDING INITIATIVES TO REDUCE URBAN- RURAL GAP IN QUALITY EDUCATION State/UT-wise details of Central Allocation and Central Share released under Samagra Shiksha from 2023-24 to 2025-26 till 17.03.2026 (Rs. in lakh) 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 Central Central Central Sl.No. Name of the State Central Central Central share share share Allocation Allocation Allocation Released Released Released 1 A & N Islands 9532.55 5527.59 8484.17 6052.36 8939.32 3067.72 2 Andhra Pradesh 179657.608 128940.788 173293.31 124010.57 150932.16 101269.35 3 Arunachal Pradesh 59601.029 47503.49 64447.49 57585.11 78323.47 45388.95 4 Assam 260407.292 181046.93 288347.22 202677.34 368806.99 208441.98 5 Bihar 502132.656 424173.08 499123.47 421781.44 601525.04 553372.53 6 Chandigarh 13213.99 11636.31 13720.64 11858.35 14810.08 12005.58 7 Chhattisgarh 120045.112 77659.06 126779.26 83065.84 118482.35 54421.99 8 DND and DNH 9537.23 4130.25 9802.68 5462.64 10972.68 6464.84 9 Delhi 37783.6 14608.83 56633.22 38539.03 56633.22 36574.97 10 Goa 3077.84 1875.43 2426.79 1633.61 2770.98 2038.88 11 Gujarat 133473.508 113253.16 160173.72 124554.05 143519.86 126776.81 12 Haryana 101502.757 57880.24 107632.86 53643.94 84604.25 28230.86 13 Himachal Pradesh 68685.118 48596.96 76494.93 52619.99 71073.55 52015.39 14 Jammu & Kashmir 173649.666 86543.88 172160.13 82349.31 143599.16 29767.08 15 Jharkhand 125218.508 110493.28 117386.04 107444.41 122684.85 77742.52 16 Karnataka 95443.122 82808.79 93654.51 86830.33 114334.70 79054.19 17 Kerala 34334.47 14165.74 42889.42 0.00 45204.68 9241.16 18 Ladakh 19159.03 5222.63 20099.43 13999.80 24401.82 13940.53 19 Lakshadweep 575.47 100.05 741.78 306.12 881.10 310.70 20 Madhya Pradesh 389333.2 298151.13 412209.15 343471.12 375084.65 303907.55 21 Maharashtra 134800.532 100119.1 143859.39 112624.52 143182.77 96815.32 22 Manipur 49677.819 25721.89 53200.51 46559.15 59620.04 21813.90 23 Meghalaya 40496.07 39418.22 39882.71 36282.56 40658.74 24638.62 24 Mizoram 36087.439 27414.06 29798.67 21651.76 33224.04 10029.98 25 Nagaland 33362.725 23125.34 28439.24 21140.50 36020.06 17986.86 26 Odisha 196376.544 123660.69 193480.26 167239.29 213955.90 132364.59 27 Puducherry 2256.398 1247.37 1974.29 1246.03 2126.35 873.36 28 Punjab 71866.492 33111.65 70878.25 67813.14 94756.42 58620.27 29 Rajasthan 359233.848 320289.45 386553.2 309065.25 334568.23 118529.16 30 Sikkim 16891.638 13260.51 15661 12273.95 16641.54 7887.77 31 Tamil Nadu 212764.72 187615.54 215315.01 0.00 189642.31 53839.90 32 Telangana 116557.4 92012.79 116271.55 98878.94 112421.86 98858.92 33 Tripura 44074.73 34132.90 45179.94 42002.98 50742.20 35865.63 34 Uttar Pradesh 664429.006 427645.13 697621.18 626479.22 589243.27 350868.06 35 Uttarakhand 72768.264 44056.91 88371.48 64678.27 76780.05 31648.97 36 West Bengal 176747.914 31129.41 174579.86 0.00 199839.46 0.00 Total 4564755.30 3238278.58 4747566.76 3445820.90 4731008.16 2804674.89ANNEXURE-II ANNEXURE-II REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4999 ANSWERED ON 23.03.2026 ASKED BY SMT. ROOPKUMARI CHOUDHARY HON’BLE MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT REGARDING INITIATIVES TO REDUCE URBAN- RURAL GAP IN QUALITY EDUCATION The details of development of infrastructure such as additional classrooms, laboratories, libraries and ICT facilities in Government schools under Samagra Shiksha Library Grant (Recurring) ACR, Labs and Library Rooms (Non-Recurring) approvals under Samagra Shiksha from 2023-24 to 2025-26 in 2025-26 Additional Classroom Labs Library Room ICT Amount Amount Amount Amount Amount Sl No State Approval Approval Approval Approval Approval (Lakh) (Lakh) (Lakh) (Lakh) (Lakh) ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR 1 0 0.00 8 506.25 1 66.00 10 28.50 316 30.43 ISLANDS 2 ANDHRA PRADESH 173 2419.57 557 12689.42 115 2656.50 684 3706.90 44910 3365.92 3 ARUNACHAL PRADESH 226 3390.00 109 4360.00 34 602.00 342 1108.70 2457 225.2 4 ASSAM 3192 40583.07 2051 38908.81 0 0.00 1414 7382.10 5329 459.23 5 BIHAR 6615 101722.71 14593 207063.61 12 352.80 1459 8152.00 77856 7530.84 6 CHANDIGARH 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 49 298.90 109 17.83 7 CHHATTISGARH 1148 9466.14 76 647.25 60 611.40 4852 21043.00 48173 4051.31 DADRA AND NAGAR 8 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 17 44.50 343 35.16 HAVELI 9 DELHI 9 191.16 0 0.00 0 0.00 777 1956.80 2645 290.49 10 DND - DNH 0 0 . 0 0 0 0.00 0 0.00 7 21.40 0 0 11 GOA 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 3 13.40 0 0 12 GUJARAT 732 13210.61 4 83.48 3 69.66 795 3268.70 0 0 13 HARYANA 1695 20130.47 986 13606.57 168 2737.68 1372 6176.20 14019 1013.5 14 HIMACHAL PRADESH 189 2367.33 268 3439.80 235 4157.30 576 2898.10 14495 1243 15 JAMMU AND KASHMIR 2824 35330.90 391 7038.00 147 3651.04 1219 3603.70 18328 1746.12 16 JHARKHAND 965 9225.40 866 11024.18 1 17.50 1858 8621.50 0 017 KARNATAKA 0 0.00 347 347.00 0 0.00 1118 5985.60 46434 3903.65 18 KERALA 0 0.00 61 1830.00 0 0.00 79 477.10 4727 497.11 19 LADAKH 125 1204.66 4 62.16 10 183.46 61 159.50 761 77.94 20 LAKSHADWEEP 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 23 2.38 21 MADHYA PRADESH 976 15908.80 1215 23896.89 168 2738.40 5259 24876.30 8737 1079.2 22 MAHARASHTRA 99 1295.18 535 9418.50 45 988.46 1485 8437.10 49003 934.625 23 MANIPUR 186 4271.24 88 2941.39 32 1198.00 262 887.60 0 0 24 MEGHALAYA 18 243.78 0 0.00 0 0.00 161 580.80 7700 574.74 25 MIZORAM 15 335.20 20 584.90 3 78.00 657 1876.50 2526 239.25 26 NAGALAND 24 547.37 65 1820.00 0 0.00 51 127.50 1881 170.47 27 ODISHA 1360 25435.60 344 9116.34 0 0.00 1672 8155.40 48099 4242.22 28 PUDUCHERRY 4 69.44 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 398 38.11 29 PUNJAB 1960 17124.76 317 3855.54 167 1902.82 1908 8878.30 18772 1567.8 30 RAJASTHAN 1242 14749.62 3430 65422.10 872 15207.50 4309 17436.30 137734 7693.64422 31 SIKKIM 4 88.20 11 297.00 0 0.00 17 127.50 836 76 32 TAMIL NADU 107 1819.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 6735 29786.10 0 0 33 TELANGANA 209 3329.00 598 11163.00 0 0.00 2214 10149.70 27293 1595.38 34 TRIPURA 301 7382.24 113 3083.96 33 1090.00 425 2432.10 4128 408.06 35 UTTAR PRADESH 5412 46921.82 8 710.82 9 160.74 14552 66041.30 50598 1528.73 36 UTTARAKHAND 338 5084.49 357 8935.38 38 982.70 215 1040.60 15805 1264.58 37 WEST BENGAL 812 9831.07 4300 69692.87 0 0.00 63 755.20 81033 1412.34 Grand Total 30960 393678.84 31722 512545.22 2153 39451.96 56677 256534.90 735468 47315.26 *Source : Prabandh Portal