Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan laid the groundwork for 23 dormitories under the Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan (DAJGUA) plan on Tuesday, as well as the start of 10 PM SHRI Government Middle Schools in Nagaland, according to authorities. According to a Nagaland government official, Union Minister Pradhan virtually laid the groundwork for 23 hostels and launched the 10 PM SHRI Government Middle Schools during a ceremony at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, which was attended by Sukanta Majumdar and Jayant Singh, both Ministers of State for Education. The ceremony was livestreamed and attended by kids, teachers, district administration officials, MLAs, community members, and parents from all across Nagaland.
On Tuesday, the Union government celebrated Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Samagam, the 5th anniversary of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, 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, according to an official. Ten PM-SHRI institutions, one from each district, were selected among 49 government schools in Nagaland to serve as examples for achieving NEP 2020 standards. The schools, as part of the nation’s 14,500 school PM?SHRI plan, would function as centers of excellence with expanded infrastructure and curricula reflecting NEP’s emphasis on access, quality, equity, and inclusion.
The DAJGUA, which aligns with India’s Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, was inaugurated nationally on October 2, 2024, with an emphasis on the comprehensive upliftment of tribal communities via coordinated delivery of education, infrastructure, healthcare, and livelihoods. The DAJGUA is planned to help over 5 crore indigenous people in 63,843 villages across 30 states through 25 focused programs supported by 17 national ministries. As part of the education intervention under this project, it has been reported that 1,000 new dormitories would be built nationally under the Samagra Shiksha framework run by the Ministry of Education.
