SOCIO-ECONOMIC MOBILISATION OF MARGINALISED COMMUNITIES

Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment SOCIO-ECONOMIC MOBILISATION OF MARGINALISED COMMUNITIES

Posted On: 04 FEB 2026 4:43PM by PIB Delhi Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has evaluated the impact of its flagship education and skill development schemes aimed at improving educational outcomes, employment opportunities and sustainable livelihoods for marginalised communities across the country.

The Pradhan Mantri Anusuchit Jaati Abhyuday Yojana (PM-AJAY) has been evaluated by the Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO), NITI Aayog, covering all three components of the scheme, namely Adarsh Gram, Grants-in-Aid and Hostels. The evaluation assessed the relevance, effectiveness and outcomes of the scheme across multiple States and found that PM-AJAY is aligned with national development priorities and has contributed to improvements in basic infrastructure, educational access and socio-economic conditions of Scheduled Caste communities. As per the evaluation report, access to the hostel component of PM-AJAY has led to increased continuation rates in higher secondary and college education, particularly for girls, by addressing challenges such as long commuting distances and unsafe travel.

As on December 2025, a total of 911 hostels for 74,749 beneficiaries have been sanctioned under PM- AJAY. State-wise details of hostels sanctioned, completed and beneficiaries covered are given at Annexure-I.

The impact of the Scheme for Residential Education for Students in High Schools in Targeted Areas

(SHRESHTA) has been assessed through a third-party evaluation conducted by the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR). The evaluation indicates improved student retention, reduced dropout rates, higher pass percentages, enhanced educational aspirations and a reduction in caste and gender gaps among Scheduled Caste students. The third-party evaluation covered 41 districts across six geographical regions of the country.

As on December 2025, the evaluation reported 15,816 beneficiaries nationwide during 2023-24, of which 4,135 students (26 per cent) were covered under Mode-I, and 11,681 students (74 per cent) under Mode-II of SHRESHTA. While the evaluation does not provide State/UT-wise outcome indicators, the number of private residential schools under Mode-I and the number of school and hostel projects run by NGOs/VOs under Mode-II, along with beneficiary details, are given at Annexure-II and Annexure- III respectively.

The impact of the Pradhan Mantri Dakshata Aur Kushalata Sampann Hitgrahi Yojana (PM- DAKSH) has also been assessed. Evaluation findings indicate strong relevance and learning effectiveness, with over 90 per cent of beneficiaries reporting alignment of training with career goals, local labour market needs and achievement of intended learning outcomes. The evaluation highlights significant non- material gains such as improved confidence, self-esteem and social recognition, particularly amongwomen and marginalised groups. Sustainability outcomes are also positive, with most beneficiaries continuing to use acquired skills, expecting long-term income growth, reinvesting in development and demonstrating the ability to maintain improvements independently.

[This information was given by the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Shri Ramdas Athawale, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.] Annexure-I State-wise hostels sanctioned under PM-AJAY (2007-08 to December 2025) Sl. No. State/UT Total No. of Hostels No. of hostels No. of beneficiaries Sanctioned completed 1 Andhra Pradesh * 33 5 3265 2 Assam 44 36 2924 3 Bihar * 19 16 1890 4 Chhattisgarh 48 46 2420 5 Gujarat 17 17 3270 6 Haryana 17 14 1860 7 Himachal Pradesh * 9 7 1125 8 Jammu And Kashmir 5 4 400 9 Jharkhand 21 16 1450 10 Karnataka 45 35 3136 11 Kerala 9 9 730 12 Madhya Pradesh 87 77 6650 13 Maharashtra* 59 55 5273 14 Manipur 24 16 2155 15 Mizoram 3 0 450 16 Nagaland 9 0 135017 Odisha * 177 169 14834 18 Puducherry 4 2 500 19 Punjab 15 15 1226 20 Rajasthan 105 101 4475 21 Sikkim 6 4 600 22 Tamil Nadu 50 47 4641 23 Telangana 11 4 1500 24 Tripura 8 5 520 25 Uttar Pradesh 32 24 2734 26 Uttarakhand* 6 2 350 27 West Bengal 48 48 5021 Total 911 774 74749 S.No State/UTs Private No of Private No of Private No Residential Beneficiaries Residential Beneficiaries Residential Benef School School School Selected Selected Selected during during during 2022-23 2021-22 2023-24 1 Andhra 14 103 5 202 8 438 Pradesh 2 Bihar 6 226 2 198 5 115 3 Chhattisgarh 6 50 5 130 7 231 4 Gujarat 1 1 6 22 1 29 5 Haryana 1 3 10 51 15 2936 Himachal 1 9 8 35 4 56 Pradesh 7 Jharkhand 6 73 3 85 4 60 8 Karnataka 8 51 0 34 1 45 9 Kerala 1 2 16 195 11 278 10 Madhya 5 62 8 183 12 267 Pradesh 11 Maharashtra 4 25 5 97 5 120 12 Orissa 17 98 3 183 6 128 13 Punjab 0 0 2 17 3 39 14 Rajasthan 5 60 27 236 25 783 15 Tamil Nadu 4 40 21 198 16 292 16 Telangana 0 0 1 25 1 53 17 Uttar 12 247 10 432 17 830 Pradesh 18 Uttarakhand 2 24 6 47 3 53 19 West Bengal 0 0 2 12 0 10 20 A & N 0 0 1 2 0 2 Island 21 Puducherry 0 0 1 7 0 8 22 Assam 1 7 1 14 0 5 23 Tripura 1 4 0 0 0 0 Total 95 1085 143 2405 144 4135 Annexure-II* Mode-I: Private Residential Schools and beneficiaries under SHRESHTA (last five years)S.No State/UTs Number No of Number No of Number No of of Beneficiaries of Beneficiaries of Beneficiaries Projects Projects Projects 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 1 Andhra 6 1050 6 255 5 509 Pradesh 2 Gujarat 1 200 1 141 1 0 3 Haryana 1 100 1 191 1 0 4 Karnataka 13 1700 13 853 14 1115 5 Madhya 5 1000 5 337 3 280 Pradesh 6 Maharashtra 38 3800 38 3997 37 2862 7 Orissa 12 1800 12 1081 11 1094 8 Rajasthan 20 2300 15 1738 15 1616 9 Tamil Nadu 2 400 2 445 2 0 10 Uttar 22 3700 22 2796 22 2881 Pradesh 11 Uttarakhand 1 200 1 37 1 131 12 West 5 1100 5 225 5 308 Bengal 13 NCT of 5 500 5 1026 5 752 Delhi 14 Assam 6 700 6 574 6 0 15 Manipur 1 200 1 0 1 25 16 Telangana 2 300 2 230 2 108 17 Meghalaya 2 300 2 148 2 0Total 142 19350 137 14074 133 11681 Annexure-III Mode-II: NGO/VO school & hostel projects and beneficiaries under SHRESHTA (last five years) ***** S.M (Release ID: 2223178) Visitor Counter : 77

Read this release in: Urdu