Government to strengthen residential education and hostel facilities for SC and tribal students through PM-AJAY, SHRESHTA and EMRS

What happened: continued government support for residential education and SC hostels

The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment announced that the Government of India continues strengthening access to quality residential education and hostel facilities for students from Scheduled Castes and tribal communities through multiple schemes. The announcement covers the hostel component under Pradhan Mantri Anusuchit Jaati Abhyuday Yojana (PM-AJAY), the residential education approach under SHRESHTA and the tribal residential schooling under Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS). For PM-AJAY, the government also reported specific sanctioned hostels for Scheduled Caste students in Hyderabad, Telangana and the amount released for their construction.

PM-AJAY (hostel component): construction support for Scheduled Caste students

Under the hostel component of PM-AJAY, financial assistance supports construction of new hostels for Scheduled Caste students. The government states that approval of proposals is based on need-assessment surveys and recommendations from State Governments, Union Territory Administrations and Central Universities. The announcement also clarifies where the scheme allows fresh proposals and where it restricts certain kinds of changes.

Key reported details under PM-AJAY include the following:

Hyderabad, Telangana: two hostels for Scheduled Caste students—one for boys and another for girls—were sanctioned.The combined capacity of the two hostels is 500 seats.₹7.50 crore has been released for construction of these hostels.