Morung Express News
Dimapur | February 1
Out of the 750 Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRSs) targeted to be established in tribal areas by 2022, Nagaland is set to have 22 such schools as per the Union budget 2021.
According to an update by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as part of Union Budget 2021-22, announced big infrastructure push aimed at education of tribal youth by enhancing the outlay for construction of EMRSs across the nation.
While announcing the target of 750 schools by 2022, the Finance Minister on Monday also proposed to increase the unit cost of each school from Rs 20 crore to Rs 38 crore, and for hilly and difficult areas, to Rs 48 crore.
“This would help in creating robust infrastructure facilities for our tribal students,” the Finance Minister said.
ERMS was introduced in the year 1997-98 to provide quality upper primary, secondary and senior secondary level education to ST students (Class 6 to 12) in remote areas to enable them to access the best opportunities in education and to bring them at par with the general population.
In the Union Budget of 2018-19, the Government of India had announced that every block with more than 50% Scheduled Tribes (ST) population and at least 20,000 tribal persons would have an EMRS by the year 2022. According to it, there would be around 740 schools in 28 States cumulatively by the year 2022.
Till date, 588 EMRSs have been sanctioned in the country out of which, 285 schools are functional with around 73,391 students enrolled in the schools.
Nagaland has 5 existing ERMSs while 17 more have been sanctioned as per the CCEA approval, and the State is projected to have 22 ERMSs by 2022.
