President Droupadi Murmu To Open New Eklavya Model Residential School In Odisha’s Kuliana Tomorrow

Bhubaneswar: President Droupadi Murmu will inaugurate the new Eklavya Model Residential School (EMRS) at Kuliana in Mayurbhanj district on the first day of her Odisha visit on Monday.

Odisha Governor Raghubar Das, Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda and Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti and Tribal Affairs Bishweswar Tudu and a host of other dignitaries will be present on the occasion, official sources said on Sunday.

Eklavya Residential Model School is a flagship scheme of Central government for imparting quality education to the tribal students. In 2019, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 452 new Eklavya Residential Model Schools were sanctioned, one in every tribal block with 50% or more ST population and 20,000.

The PM launched the scheme on September 12, 2019 from Ranchi Jharkhand. The recurring cost per student was also enhanced from Rs. 61,000 to RS 1,09,000. Later in 2022, the construction cost of EMRS was enhanced from Rs 20 crore and Rs 24 crore to Rs 38 crore and 48 crore in plain areas and hilly areas respectively. With 288 schools sanctioned before 2019 under the old scheme, Ministry of Tribal Affairs would be setting up total 740 schools by March 2026, including construction of 452 schools approved in 2019.

Ministry of tribal affairs is implementing this scheme through National Education Society for Tribal Students (NESTS) on the lines of Navodaya Vidyalayas.. The NESTS is also recruiting more than 38,000 teaching and non-teaching staff for these schools.

The state governments are required to provide encumbrance free land of about 15 acres for construction of these schools. In Odisha, total 114 schools are to be constructed, of which 106 have been sanctioned. Of these 114 schools, 27 schools are under the old scheme and 87 under the new schemes. At 8 locations, the process of provision of land is under process. As on date 32 locations schools are functional and buildings of 31 schools are complete, including 4 under the new scheme.

The President will inaugurate Kuliana, Mayurbhanj, for which budget of Rs. 38 cr is sanctioned by Ministry of Tribal Affairs. It is being constructed by Hindustan Steel Construction Ltd (HSCL), a public sector enterprise under Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

Out of 87 new EMRS sanctioned in Odisha, Mayurbhanj district alone has got 19 schools one in every block, which is the largest for any district in India. In the last two years, in coordination with the state Government, the construction work at 48 places in Odisha is in progress of which 19 schools are in Mayurbhanj. Union Minister Bishweswar Tudu is MP from Mayurbhanj.

The Kuliana EMRS campus is constructed in about 12 acres of land. It will be having 16 class rooms for 480 students comprising of 240 girls and 240 boys. There are separate hostels for boys and girls, mess, residential accommodation for Principal, teaching and non-teaching staff, administrative block, playground, computer and science laboratories. These schools will prove to be a milestone for the overall development of tribal students of this area.

The President is also scheduled to grace the inaugural session of the 36^th Annual Conference and Literary Festival of All India Santali Writers’ Association at Baripada on Monday.