Only 20 per cent of 10 lakh government schools have internet, Centre tells House

NEW DELHI:  There are over 10 lakh government schools in India, but only 2 lahks have internet facilities, Minister of State for Education Subhas Sarkar informed the Lok Sabha on Monday. Delhi is the only state where all the 2,762 government schools have internet facilities. In Puducherry (422) and Chandigarh (123) too, all the government schools are equipped with internet connectivity, Sarkar said in a written reply.

Closely followed by Lakshadweep, where 37 of the 38 schools, have an internet connection, as per the Unified District Information System for Education, a database developed by the education ministry. Among the states, in Kerala, 4,738 out of 5,010 government schools have internet. But the other southern states fare low on the list.

Of the 49,679 government schools in Karnataka, only 5,308 schools have internet facilities. In Tamil Nadu, 9,292 government schools out of 37,636, and in Andhra Pradesh, 20,313 out of 45,137 schools are similarly equipped.

Among the states faring poorly are Uttar Pradesh (12,074 out of 137,024 schools), Madhya Pradesh (16,469 out of 92,695 schools) and Bihar (4,421 out of 75,558 schools). An advisory has been issued by the department of school education and literacy to all the states and UTs to sign an agreement with BSNL and provide FTTH Internet connection to all the government schools, Sarkar said.

Power corridor

India to be developed as ‘aviation hub’
Union minister VK Singh on Monday informed the RS that the government is working to create an aviation hub in India. In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha,  Singh said the civil aviation ministry has consulted the stakeholders and also asked the aviation industry to come together to develop India as a hub for aviation. He also said that the airlines are inducting wide body aircraft and increasing their fleet size.

Over 250 KVs in temporary spaces
Union education minister Subhash Sarkar informed the RS that more than 250 Kendriya Vidyalaya (KVs) across the country are functioning in temporary buildings. In a written reply, he said, “As per information no KV is operational in rented accommodation but functional in temporary buildings.”

‘No project to rewrite history’
The Indian Council of Historical Research has not launched any project to “rewrite Indian history” 
but is working on incorporating all prominent figures and incidents that are not part of history books”, said Union Education Minister Dharamendra Pradhan on Monday in the Lok Sabha.

Compiled by Rajesh Kumar Thakur