Over 36 percent schools in India without electricity: HRD minister

Over 36 per cent of schools across the country do not have electricity, Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ said on Monday. The information was shared by the minister in response to a written question in Lok Sabha.

“As per Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) report, 2017-18, 63.14 per cent schools have power supply,” he said. According to the report, Assam has least number of schools with electricity at 24.28 per cent, followed by Meghalaya at 26.34 per cent.

All the schools in Lakshadweep and Dadra and Nagar Haveli have electricity while 99.93 per cent schools in Delhi have power supply. “Under the Deendayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana, access to electricity is provided in villages and rural areas. Accordingly, the schools that require electricity service connection may approach the state power utility and the power supply will be effected by the state power utilities as per the extant rules,” Nishank said.