Speed up works of Eklavya Model residential schools, Parliamentary panel tells government

Taking a strong note of the slow pace in the implementation of the Eklavya Model residential schools two decades on, a Parliamentary panel has asked the government to speed up the pace, and come up with a stringent mechanism to stick to deadlines.

The Eklavya Model residential schools, launched in 1997, were supposed to provide upper primary, secondary and senior secondary level education to Scheduled Tribes and students in tribal-dominated areas. In all, 288 schools were sanctioned then.

The Centre, in the 2018-19 Budget, announced that the government will establish one Eklavya Model residential school by the year 2022 in every block where Scheduled Tribes account for 50 per cent of the population with about 20,000. The schools will be set up with a capacity of 480 students and will cater to children from classes six to eight. The government aimed to set up 452 new schools, including 12 Eklavya Model day boarding schools, in the remaining 462 sub-districts by the year 2022.

The Lok Sabha Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment has noted how, among the 288 schools sanctioned in 1997, 86 schools were only on paper. Construction on 20 schools was yet to begin and the construction of buildings of 66 schools is scheduled to finish by October 2024.

“As the teaching activities have not been undertaken since the pandemic of Covid-19 started, there is all the more urgency that at least now the tribal children must have school facilities to resume their education, particularly since online mode of education is not feasible for remote tribal areas,” the panel, headed by BJP MP Rama Devi, noted.

The Committee also found that among the 452 new Eklavya Model residential schools, only 350 have been sanctioned by the government till now. The construction of only 100 schools has begun and work on 332 schools is scheduled to begin by March 2022.

The panel also pointed out that out of the 332 schools sanctioned so far, detailed project reports and master layout plans have been approved for only 174 schools. For 2018-19 and 2020-2021, the sanctioned strength of 50 and 150 schools respectively, were given the green light. But for 2019, of the 150 schools to be sanctioned, the government started only 100 schools, and similarly, only 32 schools were sanctioned for 2021-22 as opposed to the 152 that should have been started.

“It is disappointing that the construction work of only 100 schools could begin till date whereas the construction work of 332 schools is to begin by March 2022, which has just passed. The Committee laments the fact that there is a substantial gap between the number of schools proposed to be sanctioned and the number of schools sanctioned and with regard to timelines fixed for construction work,” the panel said.

The panel also noted that the Centre kept on missing the deadline of the standard period of 24 months fixed to construct these schools.

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