99 Navodaya Vidyalayas to be constructed by Ministry of Education in minority dominated areas

The Ministry of Education is constructing 99 Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas in backward, weaker and minority concentrated areas across the country for the first time in history, the Minority Affairs Minister said.

The Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has announced that the Ministry of Education will be constructing 99 Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalas in the backward areas and those with minority communities concentration across the country. He further stated that several of theses Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas are being built jointly by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Minority Affairs.

Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and the Minority Affairs Minister laid the foundation stone for a new Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya at Pakur in Jharkhand through video conferencing. This school is being constructed by the Ministry of Minority Affairs under the "Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram" (PMJVK), he said.

He further said that the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Minority Affairs are also jointly constructing four Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas at Uttar Dinajpur and Howrah in West Bengal; West Kamang in Arunachal Pradesh; and Mamit in Manipur.

The Minority Affairs Ministry is extending financial assistance of Rs 244 crore for construction of these Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas, he said in his address via video conference. 

"The Ministry of Education is constructing 99 Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas in backward, weaker and minority concentrated areas across the country for the first time in the history," he said. The Minority Affairs Ministry has also provided Rs 36 crore for 1,173 smart classrooms in Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in backward and minority concentrated areas of the country, he said.

The Ministry of Minority Affairs said that these Vidyalayas will play a crucial role in giving quality and affordable education to students from backward and minority communities in the rural areas of the country.  During the last six years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has developed socio, economic, educational and employment-oriented infrastructure across the country in backward, deprived and minority communities concentration areas under the 'Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram'.

Mr Naqvi said that with the commitment to provide equal opportunities to all needy sections of the society, more than 34,000 infrastructure projects including schools, colleges, hospitals, community centres, common service centres, ITIs polytechnic, girls hostel, Sadbhavna Mandap, Hunar Hubs have been developed in backward and minority communities concentration areas across the country. While only 90 districts of the country had been identified for minority communities' development before 2014, the Modi Government has expanded development programmes for minorities in 308 districts of the country.

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