Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday stated that extensive efforts have been made to bring equality in education in Uttar Pradesh which will be helpful in removing social inequality.

Replying to a question of an independent member Akash Agrawal during the Question Hour in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that efforts to improve the level of education in the state in the last seven years were well known.

Efforts have been made to improve the infrastructure in 1,32,000 schools in the Basic Education Council under the Kayakalp Abhiyan, he added.

The chief minister said that more than 40 lakh new children had taken admission in government schools of the state. He added that all the children were being provided bags, books, shoes, socks and sweaters.

Not only this, efforts are being made to implement the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) syllabus in the Uttar Pradesh Board also in a phase-wise (manner), he pointed out.

Today, when the Basic Education Council is providing the same curriculum, it is not necessary for us to send our children to private schools, he added.

The chief minister said the School Chalo campaign was run in April and July.

The increase of 40 lakh new children in the schools of the Basic Education Department of the state shows that the efforts made by the government are giving results and the objective of the Right to Education (RTE) Act is being fulfilled, he added.

In response to another question, the chief minister pointed out that the government provides Rs 1,200 in the bank account of each student’s parents for bag, book, shoe, sock and sweater.

Earlier, Dr Akash Agarwal of the Independent group in the legislative council, questioned the minister of state for basic education (independent charge) regarding the payment of 25 per cent fees of class 1 children of unaided schools under the Right to Education Act. 

Before the minister gave any reply, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath entered the House and informed the House about various steps taken by his government to facilitate poor children and raise the standard of education.

Rajbahadur Singh Chandel and Dr Akash Agarwal of the independent group also raised questions related to the provision of free education to poor students from classes 1 to 8 through the Right to Education Act, irregularities in the Act and misuse by issuing fake certificates with the connivance of officials.

The legislative council chairman referred the matter to the government for necessary action.

Meanwhile, Dhruv Kumar Tripathi of the teachers group raised the question of propriety regarding the giving of false and erroneous information in the House by the minister of state for education (independent charge). Chairman Kunwar Manvendra Singh directed the government to provide the report of officers who investigated this matter in the House on the last day of the on-going session or in the first week of the next session.

The Samajwadi Party members in the upper House also raised slogans after being dissatisfied by the answer on conducting caste based census in Uttar Pradesh.