Question : EMRS in Union Territory of Ladakh

(a) whether the Government has any criteria for plain & hilly state/UT for sanctioning of Eklavya Model Residential School (EMRS), if so, the details thereof;
(b) whether the Government plans to relax the criteria for with low/scattered population Blocks in Himalayan region like Union Territory of Ladakh;
(c) if so, the details thereof; and if not, the reason therefor;
(d) whether Government has sanctioned any EMRS School for Union Territory of Ladakh till date;
(e) if so, the details of sanctioned EMRS School along with the sanctioned date/year, financial status, school location and present status etc.
(f) whether the Government has received any proposal requesting for criteria (population) relaxation for sanction of EMRS School for Ladakh Parliamentary Constituency and location change for sanctioned school in Ladakh; and
(g) if so, details of the actions taken in this regard?

(a) to (b): . In order to provide quality education to tribal students in their own environment, a separate Central Sector scheme was carved out in 2018 to improve the geographical outreach of Eklavya Model Residential School (EMRS) to every block with more than 50% ST population and at least 20,000 tribal persons. Prior to 2018, 288 EMRSs were sanctioned under 275(1) of constitution, where grants are given to States by Ministry of Tribal Affairs. Under the revamped scheme, 452 blocks have been identified for establishment of EMRS schools. A total of 740 EMRSs (288+ 452) would be set up by 2026 on provision of suitable land by the States. As on date, 672 EMRSs have already been approved out of which 367 EMRSs are functional across the country. Further, Government has decided to increase the construction cost of EMRS to Rs.38.00 crore for plain areas and Rs. 48.00 crore in Northeast, hilly and LWE affected areas.

(c): At present, the priority is to complete construction of 740 schools which fulfil the criteria. In case the State is not able to find suitable land in eligible block, the state can suggest alternate block with substantial tribal population.However the number of schools allocated to State will not increase. Further, as per norms, there is requirement of 15 acres of land, however in hilly state, on case to case basis criteria of land has relaxed upto 10 acres of land with change in building design from Ground plus first floor to Ground plus 2 floors.



(d) and (e): Yes Sir. As on date, 3 EMRSs have been sanctioned for the Union Territory of Ladakh as mentioned below:

District Block/ Taluka Name of the School Year of sanction Present status (Functional /Non-functional)
Kargil Kargil EMRS Kargil 2016-17 Non Functional
Leh Leh EMRS StogstokNubra 2018-19 Non Functional
Kargil Sankoo EMRS Sankoo 2021-22 Non Functional

Earlier EMRS was a component under Article 275(1) of the Constitution and fund was being released under Article 275(1) upto the year 2019-20 and from the year 2020-21 onwards funds for EMRS scheme is being released by National Educational Society for Tribal Students (NESTS) which is an autonomous body under this Ministry. Further, as reported by NESTS, an amount of Rs.10.00 Lakh has been released during the current financial year, i.e. in 2021-22, for EMRS Sankoo in Kargil, Ladakh for pre-construction activities.

(f) and (g): One reference was received from Hon’ble Member of Parliament of Ladakh Lok Sabha constituency regarding setting up 5 EMRSs in Ladakh during 2019-20. The matter was examined and a reply was sent to the Member of Parliament from Hon’ble Minister for Tribal Affairs informing that 3 EMRSs have been sanctioned in Ladakh as per the existing policy/guidelines of EMRS.
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