New Eklavya Model Residential Schools will be on par with Navodya Vidyalayas: Oram

The 462 new Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRSs) for tribal students, proposed to be constructed by 2022, will be on par with Navodya Vidyalayas and have special facilities for preserving local art and culture, Union minister Jual Oram said Wednesday.

The government will set up an autonomous society, on the lines of the Navodaya Vidayalaya Samiti, to run the ERMSs, the tribal affairs minister said.

Oram made the announcement two days after the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the setting up of 462 new EMRSs by 2022 in every district or block with more than 50 per cent Scheduled Tribes (ST) population and at least 20,000 tribal persons.

At present, there are 284 EMRSs in the country, of which 219 are operational. The government has decided to construct 462 new EMRSs by 2022, the minister said.

The EMRSs will be on par with Navodya Vidyalayas and will have special facilities for preserving local art and culture, besides providing training in sports and skill development, he said.

Of the 462 new EMRSs, 92 will be established in Odisha. Seventy such schools will come up in Jharkhand, 50 in Chhattisgarh and 40 in Madhya Pradesh, according to data from the ministry.

Fifty EMRSs are proposed to be constructed in 2018-19 fiscal. Hundred such schools will be established in the next financial year, 150 in 2020-21 and 162 in 2021-22, Oram said.

According to Census 2011, there are 564 sub-districts having 50 per cent or more ST population and 20,000 or more tribal people. Currently, there are 284 EMRSs in 102 sub-districts.

The government has also enhanced the recurring cost per EMRS student per year from the existing Rs 61,500 to Rs 1,09,000 from 2019-20. Ten per cent seats in such schools will be allotted to non-ST students.

Priority will be given to children of EMRS staff, those have lost their parents to Left Wing Extremism and insurgencies and children of widows, the minister said.