Cabinet approves 50 new Kendriya Vidyalayas, focus on left wing extremism areas

The Union Cabinet Thursday approved 50 new Kendriya Vidyalayas with a focus on areas that are hotbeds of left-wing extremism and where there is a high concentration of Central Reserve Police Force or railway employees.

Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said nearly one lakh students will benefit from the decision and it will create employment opportunities also. 

"The union cabinet today approved setting up of 50 new Kendriya Vidyalayas under Civil or Defence sector in different states of the country. This is a great decision," he said.

According to KV officials, Rs 1,579.9 crores will be spent in next five years on construction and staff salary for the 50 new KVs.

"While Rs 1,241 crore will be for building construction, the remaining Rs 338 crore will be for staff salary. The teachers and staff requirement will be met through deputation and contractual employment for the time being and till the formal recruitment is done," a senior official said.

The new schools will be set up in areas that are hotbeds of left-wing extremism as well as in places with heavy deployment of Central Reserve Police Force troops or with high concentration of railway employees, the official added.

Currently, there are over 12,000 KVs across the country and three abroad.

The new KVs will be set up in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, West Bengal, Assam, Rajasthan, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Arunachal Pradesh.