Parliament Question: Lack of Basic Infrastructure in Government Schools

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 229 ANSWERED ON - 09/03/2026 Lack of Basic Infrastructure in Government Schools †*229. Shri Manish Jaiswal: Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state: (a) whether there is lack of basic infrastructure such as buildings, toilets, drinking water, electricity and digital facilities in the Government Schools located in Hazaribagh Lok Sabha Constituency; (b) if so, the details of the funds sanctioned and spent for strengthening the infrastructure in this region during the financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25; (c) whether the Government has implemented any special scheme to provide smart class rooms, digital boards and internet connectivity in the said constituency and if so, the details thereof; (d) the total number of sanctioned posts of teachers along with the details of the existing vacancies as on date; and (e) the stipulated timeline for filling the said vacancies? ANSWER MINISTER OF EDUCATION (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN) (a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House. ****STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 229 ASKED BY HON’BLE MP SHRI MANISH JAISWAL REGARDING ‘LACK OF BASIC INFRASTRUCTURE IN GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS’ ANSWERED ON 09.03.2026 (a) & (b): The subject ‘Education’ is in the Concurrent List of the Constitution and majority of the schools are under the administrative jurisdiction of concerned States/UTs. However, Central Government provides financial assistance to States/UTs including Jharkhand under the Centrally Sponsored scheme- Samagra Shiksha, for strengthening of existing government schools for creation and augmentation of infrastructure facilities like buildings, toilets for Boys/Girls/CWSN, drinking water, electricity and digital facilities based on Annual Work Plan & Budget (AWP&B) proposal prepared by them and gaps determined from Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) database. These plans are then appraised and approved by the Project Approval Board (PAB) in the Department of School Education and Literacy in consultation with the State/UT as per the programmatic and financial norms of the scheme, physical and financial progress of works sanctioned earlier and availability of budgetary resources. Based on the approved AWP&B, the Central Share of funds under Samagra Shiksha is released to the respective State/UT in lumpsum in four instalments and not for constituencies or districts separately. The States/UTs then allocate and utilize these funds along with their own funds in line with their priorities, transferring them further to districts, blocks and schools as applicable, in accordance with the approved AWP&B. Under Centrally Sponsored Scheme of PM Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI), 14500 schools are to be developed as exemplar schools across the country out of which 22 PM SHRI schools have been approved for Hazaribagh Lok Sabha Constituency. PM SHRI scheme has a provision to saturate PM SHRI schools with 21 components including computer lab/ICT lab/smart classrooms, library with good furniture, internet facility, vocational skill education, guidance and career counselling, fully equipped integrated science lab/physics lab/chemistry lab/biology lab, furniture etc. As per information received from the State Government of Jharkhand, electricity is available in 98.09% of schools in Hazaribagh Lok Sabha Constituency, toilets in98.67% schools, handpump/tap water in 97.35% schools, classrooms in 99.98% Schools, ICT labs in 48.98% schools and Smart classrooms in 38.62% Schools. The detail of the funds sanctioned and spent for school infrastructure in Hazaribagh Lok Sabha Constituency through Samagra Shiksha, PM SHRI and State funds during the financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25 as informed by State Government of Jharkhand is as follows – (Rs. in cr.) Name of Lok 2023-24 2024-25 Sabha Sanctioned Expenditure Sanctioned Expenditure Constituency Hazaribagh 37.55 30.81 36.66 26.91 (c): Under Samagra Shiksha Scheme, ICT and Digital Initiatives component covers Government and Government Aided Schools having classes VI to XII. Under this component financial assistance is provided for establishing ICT Labs and Smart Classrooms in schools. ICT Labs and Smart Classrooms-Programmatic Norms: The non- recurring/recurring grant under ‘ICT and Digital Initiatives’ is available to the States for following two options: - (i). Option I: Under this option schools which have not availed the ICT facility earlier can either opt for ICT labs or smart classrooms as per their requirement and need. In case of more than 700 enrolment, an additional ICT lab can also be considered. States/UTs have flexibility to procure hardware such as tablets/ laptops/notebooks/ integrated teaching learning devices and open-source operating system as well as Hardware, Software, training and resource support. This would include support for digital boards, smart classrooms, virtual classrooms and DTH channels on pro-rata basis for number of schools approved. (ii). Option II: Under this option schools which have already availed the ICT lab facility earlier can avail smart classrooms/tablets as per the norms of the scheme.ICT Labs and Smart Classrooms-Financial norms: ICT Labs: A non-recurring grant of up to Rs. 6.40 lakh per school and recurring grant of upto Rs. 2.40 lakh per school per annum for a period of 5 years. From 2023-24, the scheme also offers step-wise funding based on school enrolment. (Strength <100: Rs. 2.5 Lakhs, Strength between 100 – 250: Rs. 4.5 Lakhs, Strength between 250 – 700: Rs.6.4 Lakhs) Smart Classrooms: The non-recurring grant for Smart Class rooms (2 smart classrooms per school) is of Rs. 2.40 lakh and the recurring grant is Rs. 38,000/- per school per annum (including E Content and Digital Resources, Charges for Electricity). As informed by the State Government, schools with ICT Labs/ Smart Classrooms are equipped with internet connectivity. (d) & (e): The recruitment and management of teachers in the schools of States/UTs fall under the administrative control of the respective State / UT Government. Central Government provides financial assistance to the States/ UTs to maintain appropriate Pupil Teacher Ratio at various levels of schooling as per the prescribed norms. The Central Government pursues the matter of expeditious recruitment and redeployment of teachers with the States and UTs through review meetings with States/ UTs and advisories from time to time. As informed by the State Government, in the Government schools of Hazaribagh constituency, the total number of sanctioned teaching posts is 7,493 out of which 3,416 posts are presently vacant. The State Government has further informed that the recruitment process for teachers at the elementary and secondary levels is currently sub-judice. *****