Union Tribal Welfare Minister Jual Oram said his Ministry has been planning to set up over 400 Ekalavya Model Schools across the country with an estimated budget of ₹25,000 crore.
These would be established in tribal areas where the tribal population is two lakh and above, and they would be on par with Jawahar Navodaya schools.
Sports schools
The expenditure per student would be increased from ₹42,000 to ₹61,000 and the schools would also be upgraded. The Central government has also been planning to set up special sports schools for tribal students.
Mr. Oram was speaking at the maiden Eklavya Model Residential Schools’ National Sports Meet that concluded on Wednesday at Gacchibowli Stadium. Telangana students stood first by clinching a total of 111 medals with 52 gold, 43 silver and 16 bronze medals.
Maharashtra bagged the second position with only just 36 medals, while in the third position was Arunachal Pradesh with 10 medals. Twenty States and about 2,000 students participated in the sports meet, said R.S. Praveen Kumar, Secretary of TS Tribal Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society.
