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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY
LOK SABHA
STARRED QUESTION NO. 135
ANSWERED ON – 09/02/2026
Progress of NIPUN Bharat Mission
†*135. Shri Neeraj Maurya:
Shri Naba Charan Majhi:
Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:
(a) the progress made so far under the National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with
Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN) Bharat Mission towards ensuring foundational
literacy and numeracy by the end of Class 3, along with its coverage and key learning
outcome indicators State/District-wise especially in Aonla (Bareilly), Shajahanpur, Budaun
and Jaunpur districts in Uttar Pradesh, Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka, Hazaribagh
and Ramgarh districts of Jharkhand and Machhlishahr Parliamentary Constituency of Uttar
Pradesh including the State of Telangana and Rajasthan;
(b) the concrete measures taken by the Government for strengthening/capacity building of
teachers, availability of quality teaching-learning materials and strengthening of evaluation
frameworks to accelerate foundational skills in the above said districts including the State of
Telangana;
(c) the details of digital/institutional mechanisms adopted for real-time monitoring of learning
outcomes of students in various States and Union Territories including Gujarat, Madhya
Pradesh particularly in Dewas-Shajapur Constituency and the above said districts; and
(d) whether the Government proposes to provide additional educational support or technical
incentives to backward areas/lagging regions especially the above said districts and
Parliamentary Constituencies including Dewas-Shajapur Parliamentary Constituency of
Madhya Pradesh and in the district of Telangana in achieving NIPUN Bharat targets and if
so, the details thereof?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF EDUCATION
(SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)
(a) to (d): A statement is laid on the table of the House.
*****STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (d) OF THE LOK
SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 135 ANSWERED ON 09.02.2026 ASKED BY
HON’BLE MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT SHRI NEERAJ MAURYA AND SHRI
NABA CHARAN MAJHI REGARDING “PROGRESS OF NIPUN BHARAT
MISSION”
(a): The Department of School Education & Literacy (DoSE&L), Ministry of Education
(MoE) has launched a National Mission called “National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading
with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat Mission (NBM))” on 5th July, 2021 for
ensuring that every child in the country necessarily attains foundational literacy and
numeracy (FLN) by the end of Grade 2. This Mission aligned with the National Education
Policy (NEP) 2020, has been set up under the aegis of the centrally sponsored scheme of
Samagra Shiksha- an integrated scheme for School Education. Under Samagra Shiksha, all 36
States/Union Territories are implementing the NBM. Financial norms for the following
components are provided under the NBM including backward areas/lagging regions:
• Support to pre-school education/co-located anganwadi centers (recurring &
non-recurring)
• Teaching Learning Materials for implementation of Innovative pedagogies
• Teacher Resource Material/Activity Handbook
• Capacity building of Teachers of Grades I & II
• Independent, periodic and holistic assessment of students
• Formation of Project Management Unit (PMU) at state and district level
Under the NBM, a range of systemic interventions have been undertaken and the
following progress has been made across the country including the districts of Aonla
(Bareilly), Shajahanpur, Budaun and Jaunpur districts in Uttar Pradesh, Dakshina Kannada
district in Karnataka, Hazaribagh and Ramgarh districts of Jharkhand and Machhlishahr
Parliamentary Constituency of Uttar Pradesh including the State of Telangana and Rajasthan.
(i) A 3-months play based ‘School Preparation Module and Guidelines’ for Grade I
named ‘Vidya Pravesh’ was launched on 29th July, 2021. The goal of Vidya Pravesh
programme is to promote school preparedness in all children coming to Grade-I from diverse
backgrounds (Balvatika, Anganwadi Centers (AWCs), at home, private play schools etc.), to
ensure a smooth transition of children to Grade-I. It provides play based, age and
developmentally appropriate learning experiences in a joyful and stimulating environment
leading to holistic development to bolster a child’s pre-literacy, pre-numeracy, cognitive and
social skills. This programme is being implemented across the country. From 2022-23 till
date, over 4.2 crore students in around 8.9 lakh schools have benefitted. The state-wise details
are annexed.
(ii) To improve the learning outcomes at foundational stage, the National Curricular
Framework for Foundational Stage (NCF-FS) was released on 20th October, 2022 providing a
structure for the syllabus, training of teachers, Learning Teaching Material (LTM), etc.
(iii) The Jaadui Pitara (JP), a set of 53 play-based learning-teaching materials for
ages 3-8 was launched on 20th February 2023. Available in 22 Indian languages, JP includes
toys, puzzles, story cards, flashcards, and teacher handbooks. Its digital extension, the e-
Jaadui Pitara, launched on 10th February 2024, offers multilingual stories, activities, songs in
22 Indian languages, and AI-based bots-Katha Sakhi, Teacher Tara, and Parent Tara-tosupport children, teachers, and parents. As envisaged in NEP 2020, these initiatives are an
integral part of the foundational stage.
(iv) Primers (launched in March, 2024) have been developed in 121 local and tribal
languages for FLN in mother tongues spoken by populations of at least 10,000. The list of
released primers in Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh,
Rajasthan and Gujarat is tabulated below:
State Name of Primer
Jharkhand Korwa, Kharia, Kurukh, Mundari, Bhumij,
Santali (Hindi)
Karnataka Kodava, Tulu, Kannada
Telangana Telugu, Gondi-Telugu, Kolami-Telugu
Rajasthan Bhili (Vasava), Bhili (Wagdi)
Gujarat Gujarati, Bhili (Vasava)
Madhya Pradesh Bhili (Vasava), Korku
Uttar Pradesh Hindi, Urdu, Sanskrit
(v) Lakshyas or Targets for FLN starting from the Balvatika-3 upto Grade-2, based on the
learning outcomes have been developed on the basis of national and international research.
(vi) The DoSE&L and the MoWCD have jointly launched the “Guidelines for co-location
of Anganwadi Centers with schools” on 03.09.2025. The guidelines have been shared with
the States & UTs for effective implementation. As per UDISE+ 2024-25, out of 9,11,035
Government and Government-aided schools with Grade 1, more than 4.81 lakh schools
(52.79%) have some form of preschool education facilities, either AWC or Balvatika or both.
(vii) The Government of India conducts periodic large-scale assessments to measure
learning and education outcomes across the country. The National Achievement Survey
(NAS) was conducted in 2017 and again in 2021 to assess the learning levels of students in
Grades 3, 5, 8 and 10 across language, mathematics, environmental studies, science and
social science. The state/district-wise report cards are available in public domain and are
available at https://nas.gov.in/report-card.
PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan (PRS), 2024 is conducted to evaluate the learning
competencies/outcomes of students in FLN, Language and Mathematics at the end of each of
the educational stages i.e. Foundational, Preparatory and Middle in Grades 3, 6 & 9. The
latest PRS, 2024 was conducted on 4th December, 2024. The state/district-wise PRS 2024
report has been officially released in public domain on 2nd July, 2025. This can be accessed at
https://dashboard.parakh.ncert.gov.in/en.
PRS 2024 findings highlight a significant improvement in FLN skills outcomes,
reflecting the positive impact of the NBM as envisioned in NEP 2020. It reflects that the
performance of children in Grade 3 in rural school is better than urban schools and
government schools have outperformed the private schools at foundational stage. The
comparative picture for Grade-3 performance as compared to National Achievement Survey
(NAS), 2021 is tabulated below:Grade 3: Comparative Picture (India) (in %age)
NAS, 2021 PRS, 2024
Language 62 64
Mathematics 57 60
Based on PRS, 2024, the Grade-3 performance for Bareilly (Aonla), Shajahanpur,
Budaun and Jaunpur (Machhlishahr) districts in Uttar Pradesh, Dakshina Kannada district in
Karnataka, Hazaribagh and Ramgarh districts of Jharkhand, Telangana and Rajasthan is:
State District %age Learning outcome, %age Learning outcome,
Language (PRS, 2024) Mathematics (PRS, 2024)
Uttar Bareilly (Aonla 71 67
Pradesh Parliamentary
constituency)
Shajahanpur 65 61
Budaun 64 61
Jaunpur 73 68
(Machhlishahr
Parliamentary
Constituency)
Karnataka Dakshina Kannada 64 59
Jharkhand Hazaribagh 53 49
Ramgarh 56 54
Telangana All districts 58 54
Rajasthan All districts 70 66
(b): Pre-service teacher education programmes are regulated by the National Council for
Teacher Education (NCTE), with emphasis on teacher preparation for the foundational stage.
In this context, the Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP) has been introduced as a
four-year integrated degree programme that prepares teachers for school education, including
the foundational stage, by integrating child development, early childhood care and education
(ECCE), play-based and activity-based pedagogy, and FLN, along with early and continuous
school internships. In addition, the DoSE&L has launched a national initiative to improve
learning outcomes through an integrated teacher training programme called the National
Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement (NISHTHA) under Samagra
Shiksha. NISHTHA supports large-scale in-service teacher capacity building and includes
training modules for primary teachers focusing on pedagogy, FLN, inclusive education and
classroom practices, and is implemented in coordination with the States and Union Territories
through face-to-face and online modes. More than 15.57 lakh users including pre-primary
teachers, master trainers and Anganwadi Workers have completed NISHTHA online training
program for FLN & ECCE. Besides, these states are also conducting physical trainings of
teachers at State level.
(c): The Government of India has introduced the ‘Automated Permanent Academic
Account Registry (APAAR)’ as part of the academic framework to strengthen the monitoring
of actual learning outcomes. This initiative is part of the ‘One Nation, One Student ID’
initiative in line with the NEP 2020, and serves as a unique, lifelong academic ID for every
student. It records their academic journey from the foundational stage onwards, including
academic achievements, co-curricular activities, skill development, assessments, and basichealth records. This digital system ensures continuity of learning, aids dropout recovery, and
enables timely academic updates for parents, teachers, and institutions.
Further, APAAR is integrated with the Holistic Progress Card (HPC), which captures
a 360-degree view of a student’s development through competency-based and formative
assessment. HPC is a multidimensional report of progress, that reflects in detail the progress
as well as the uniqueness of each learner in the cognitive, affective, socio-emotional, and
psychomotor domains. It helps to map the status of each child's learning for FLN skills. The
data from the HPC is linked to Vidya Samiksha Kendra (VSK), a centralized data analytics
platform that monitors student progress, identifies learning gaps, and supports targeted
interventions. Together, APAAR, HPC, and VSK create a digital, data-driven ecosystem
supporting digital transformation goals of NIPUN Bharat Mission, and the broader Samagra
Shiksha initiative allowing continuous tracking of each student’s progress, ensuring
accountability and improved learning outcomes across all stages of education.
Further, the Government of India conducts periodic large-scale assessments, to
measure learning and education outcomes across the country, through PARAKH Rashtriya
Sarvekshan as mentioned in point (a) above.
(d): The NBM is implemented under the aegis of the Samagra Shiksha scheme. Bridging
social category gaps at all levels of school education is one of the major objectives of the
Samagra Shiksha scheme. The Scheme reaches out to children belonging to Socio-
Economically Disadvantaged Groups (SEDGs). The scheme is implemented on principles of
equity and universal access for all. Under Samagra Shiksha scheme, education is imparted
with equitable access to the highest-quality education for all learners regardless of social or
economic background. The states/UTs at their own level are also providing additional,
contextual Teaching Learning Material. In Madhya Pradesh including Dewas-Shajapur
Parliamentary Constituency, children’s notebooks and teacher guides have QR codes,
including content and teaching techniques. Tablets have been provided to teachers. In
Telangana, focussed interventions are introduced in low performing mandals and districts.
*****ANNEXURE
ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF LSSQ NO. 135 ANSWERED ON
09/02/2026 REGARDING “PROGRESS OF NIPUN BHARAT MISSION”
Details of Vidya Pravesh Programme for the years 2022-23, 2023-24 & 2024-25
No. of Schools Implemented Total Student covered
S.No. State/UT 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2022-2023 2023-2024 2024-2025
1 A and N Islands 305 308 308 1,962 2,305 2,445
2 Andhra Pradesh 49,847 38,950 35,036 18,76,989 6,03,949 2,42,882
3 Arunachal Pradesh 1,578 2,631 2,379 13,328 18,938 20,595
4 Assam 30,027 38,312 38,724 4,91,220 5,28,837 5,39,980
5 Bihar 65,920 67,657 65,309 20,00,000 15,23,411 12,95,231
6 Chandigarh 112 118 118 9,154 2,107 7,779
7 Chhattisgarh 21,735 30,925 31,560 2,59,165 3,19,918 3,19,918
8 DNH-DD 328 303 303 7,759 7,192 7,049
9 Delhi 2,714 1,622 2,645 4,18,105 1,36,318 1,23,459
10 Goa 1,000 1,007 1,008 18,212 17,253 17,253
11 Gujarat 31,878 32,030 32,701 6,75,494 1,12,048 6,15,037
12 Haryana 8,400 8,663 8,654 6,47,000 1,10,000 1,05,719
13 Himachal Pradesh 10,555 10,363 9,950 1,77,036 49,294 22,510
14 J&K 22,020 13,805 8,965 1,34,249 1,30,640 1,19,160
15 Jharkhand 34,457 36,626 36,626 13,00,000 5,52,263 5,70,745
16 Karnataka 42,672 42,255 42,656 16,18,021 4,61,514 3,71,017
17 Kerala - 8,021 9,395 - 2,58,141 2,46,656
18 Ladakh 666 717 738 4,645 1,972 2,121
19 Lakshadweep 27 27 27 1,067 1,009 1,028
20 Madhya Pradesh 63,397 79,480 79,215 8,07,276 7,09,841 14,94,199
21 Maharashtra 79,382 82,906 82,906 13,84,131 11,03,339 10,78,720
22 Manipur - 3,334 3,376 - 29,638 29,871
23 Meghalaya 330 - 2,624 6,185 - 32,512
24 Mizoram 1,282 1,255 1,266 21,662 17,455 51,135
25 Nagaland 114 1,764 1,449 3,926 14,705 13,002
26 Odisha 46,510 44,945 44,945 5,04,181 4,76,791 5,11,152
27 Puducherry 296 350 340 9,814 5,494 5,218
28 Punjab 12,827 13,160 12,862 2,05,669 2,02,625 1,75,524
29 Rajasthan 68,686 68,140 68,542 6,78,019 8,79,705 7,65,779
30 Sikkim - 767 764 - 3,070 3,064
31 Tamil Nadu 58,157 38,036 45,989 5,21,844 3,63,724 3,58,700
32 Telangana 29,428 24,144 24,144 2,19,427 1,93,988 1,93,988
33 Tripura 4,200 4,227 4,227 50,000 37,826 37,826
34 Uttar Pradesh 1,11,599 1,12,058 1,11,597 25,06,100 13,88,269 12,66,863
35 Uttarakhand 11,596 11,468 11,248 1,65,480 63,390 63,960
36 West Bengal 65,748 64,969 65,261 12,76,810 10,33,954 21,94,421
Total 8,77,793 8,85,902 8,87,857 1,80,13,930 1,13,60,923 1,29,06,518