Around 1820 tribal girls from states across the country have benefited from the Central government’s Vigyan Jyoti Programme, which seeks to initiate tribal girl students to various branches of science and research besides creating career opportunities for them.
Meghalaya accounts for the largest number of tribal girls who have taken advantage of the central government programme and benefited from it, according to the government data.
This was informed by Minister of State for Earth Sciences and Science and Technology Jitendra Singh in a written reply to the Lok Sabha Wednesday. The Vigyan Jyoti Programme was started in 2020.
The minister further said the programme was being implemented in 100 schools in the country and all the schools are situated in rural areas. “Since its inception, around 1820 tribal girls have been benefited under Vigyan Jyoti Programme,” he added.
Giving state-wise details of the programme, Jitendra Singh said Meghalaya accounted for the largest number of 173 tribal girl students who had joined the programme and got benefits from it.
Madhya Pradesh with 173, Nagaland with 128, Arunachal Pradesh 115, Odisha ad Chattisgarh with 112 respectively, Rajasthan and Sikkim with 101 students come next.
In other states including in Andhra Pradesh 33 tribal girl students, in Assam 76, Bihar 15, Chandigarh 1, Dadar & Nagar Haveli & Diu 66, Delhi 5, Goa 23, Gujarat 76, Himachal Pradesh 30, Jammu and Kashmir 10, Jharkhand 86, Karnataka 62, Kerala 6, Laddakh 94, Maharashtra 45, Punjab 1, Manipur 101, Telangana 31, West Bengal 16, Uttar Pradesh 17, Uttrakhand 21 and in Tripura 29 tribal girls have benefited from the programme, according to the Union Minister.