SHILLONG, June 7: The proposed Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS), which have been facing hurdles with regard to land for construction of the schools, will be shifted to different locations where it is feasible if the concerned C&RD Blocks do not make the land available within one-month time.
The central government through the Ministry of Tribal Affairs had sanctioned as many as 40 EMRS.
Advisor to the Education department, HM Shangpliang, said, “The stakeholders who are involved in the construction of the schools have been called and they would be meeting the concerned minister and I. We are going to take a review so that we can start these constructions at the earliest possible”.
Shangpliang revealed that as per reports, land has not been made available some blocks for construction of the EMRS. “…the government will be giving just one month’s time more to search and provide the land otherwise we are going to shift those schools to somewhere else where the land is made available,” he added.
Stating that land has become a major factor as 15 hectares of land has to be provided free of cost for the construction of the schools, Shangpliang said that it is the policy of the Centre. However, they are on the job and they would like these schools to start at the earliest, he added.
Education Minister Rakkam A Sangma, on the other hand, said that he has already held a review meeting, and it was learnt that the construction was delayed due to the issue of land.
The Education minister said that a proposal was made by the land providers that they either be compensated for the land or given government jobs, but the Ministry has declined the proposal.
He said that he will be meeting the Deputy Commissioners of all the districts in a bid to find a solution for the land deal.
Acknowledging that the construction of the schools are already delayed, he said, “It is my commitment that work is done on EMRS and we are working aggressively. We will be having a review meeting again”.
Eklavya Model Residential Schools programme is one of the flagship interventions of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, which was introduced in 1997-98 to ensure tribal students get access to quality education in the remote areas.
The Centre provides one-time grant of Rs 30 lakh for establishing the school, thereafter up to Rs 30 lakh per school annually, while additional cost is borne by state governments.
For the state, Rs 960 crore of sanctions have been obtained for setting up the 40 EMRS across different blocks of Meghalaya to transform the secondary education. There are around 226 Eklavya schools functional across the country and 68 of them are affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education.
