NEW DELHI: In order to increase access to Higher Education, the HRD Ministry has identified 374 districts as Educationally Backward Districts (EBDs) where Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) in Higher Education was less than the National average of 12.4 per cent based on 2001 census data, the Government today informed the Lok Sabha.
In a written reply, MoS for Human Resource Development Upendra Kushwaha stated, “In the year 2010, a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) was launched to set up one Model Degree College in each of the identified 374 EBCs. In 2013, this scheme was subsumed under the CSS of Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA).”
“The RUSA scheme is aimed at improving access and equity in Higher Education, especially in unserved and underserved areas by setting up quality Higher Educational institutions and upgrading existing ones,” the Minister informed.
On educationally backward state, the MoS stated, “No state has been classified as educationally backward state by the HRD.”
“The Project Approval Board of RUSA has approved central assistance to 72 MDCs,” the MoS stated. (AGENCIES)
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