Education ministry approves RUSA scheme to continue till 2026

The Ministry of Education has approved the scheme of Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) for continuation till 2026, officials said on Friday.

RUSA is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for funding the state government universities and colleges to achieve the aims of equity, access and excellence.

The proposal entails an expenditure of Rs 12,929.16 crore out of which the central share is Rs 8,120.97 crores and the state share is of Rs 4,808.19 crores. It has been envisaged to support around 1,600 projects under the new phase of the scheme.

"The new phase of RUSA targets to reach out the unserved, underserved areas, remote and rural areas, difficult geographies, aspirational districts, tier-2 cities, areas with low GER, to benefit the most disadvantaged areas and SEDGs (Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Groups)," a senior ministry official said.

"The new phase of the scheme has been designed to implement some of the recommendations and aims of the New Education Policy, which suggests some key changes to the current higher education system to revamp and re-energize it and thereby deliver quality higher education, with equity and inclusion," the official added.

Under the new phase of the scheme, state governments will be supported for gender inclusion, equity initiatives, ICT, enhancing employability through vocationalisation and skill upgradation.

"States will also be supported for creation of new model degree colleges. State universities will be supported for multi-disciplinary education and research," the official said.

"Grants will be provided for strengthening both accredited and non-accredited universities and colleges for undertaking various activities including teaching-learning in Indian languages," the official added.