Today, the Ekalavya Model Residential School (EMRS) coordination conference was presided over by Jal Shakti Bishweswar Tudu, the Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs, who also assessed the progress of the schools’ construction in Odisha.
Tudu studied the problems that some of these school sites were experiencing, including land acquisition, clearing of the forest, and cost inflation because of the difficult terrain, and he gave the officials instructions to resolve all the concerns and speed up the building of the schools.
It should be mentioned that Odisha has received the most number of EMRSs of any state in India, totaling 87. Additionally, Mayurbhanj alone has sanctioned 19 schools, which is the most of any district in India.
According to Tudu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is dedicated to the welfare and development of tribal groups. He claimed that the goal date of 2024 would see the realisation of the Modi Government’s dream for the welfare of tribal students.
So far, 45 out of the 87 schools have had their bhoomi pujans done. Senior representatives from the Departments of Forest, Environment, and Climate Change, Minorities & Backward Classes Welfare, and ST & SC Development of the Government of Odisha have also attended the meeting today.
Prasanta Patnaik