Kohima, July 29 (IANS) Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday virtually laid the foundation stone for 23 hostels under the Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan (DAJGUA) scheme and launched 10 PM SHRI Government Middle Schools in Nagaland, officials said.

A Nagaland government official said that Union Minister Pradhan virtually laid the foundation stone for 23 hostels and launched the 10 PM SHRI Government Middle Schools from a ceremony at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, in the presence of Sukanta Majumdar and Jayant Singh, both Ministers of State for Education.

The event was streamed live and attended by students, teaching faculty, district administration officials, MLAs, community members, and parents from across Nagaland.

According to the official, the Union government celebrated Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Samagam, the celebration of the 5th anniversary of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 on Tuesday by formally dedicating PM SHRI schools and laying the foundation stones for hostels under the DAJGUA, marking a dual milestone in education and tribal welfare.

Selected from among 49 government schools in Nagaland, the 10 PM SHRI institutions, one representing each district, were recognised as model schools for the implementation of NEP 2020 standards. The schools, as part of the nation’s 14,500 school PM SHRI initiative, would serve as centres of excellence with enhanced infrastructure and curricula reflecting NEP’s focus on access, quality, equity, and inclusion.

In alignment with India’s Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the DAJGUA was launched nationally on October 2 last year (2024) with a focus on the holistic upliftment of tribal communities through coordinated delivery of services in education, infrastructure, healthcare, and livelihoods.

The DAJGUA is projected to benefit over 5 crore tribal individuals across 63,843 villages in 30 states, via 25 targeted interventions executed by 17 central ministries. As part of the education intervention under this scheme, it has been stated that 1,000 new hostels are planned nationwide through the Samagra Shiksha framework under the Ministry of Education.

–IANS

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