We have emphasised the education of tribal children with a target of setting up 740 Eklavya Model Residential Schools. We will expedite the construction and operationalization of the remaining schools.

A note on the claim first. This entry was imported as a 2014 promise of "a quality school in every tribal block". The 2014 manifesto does not mention Eklavya Model Residential Schools, which have existed since 1997. The promise that names them is in the 2024 manifesto: "We have emphasised the education of tribal children with a target of setting up 740 Eklavya Model Residential Schools. We will expedite the construction and operationalization of the remaining schools." That is what this entry now grades.

The number to test against is the ministry's own. On 11 December 2025 the Ministry of Tribal Affairs told the Lok Sabha: "Till March 2024, 404 EMRSs were made functional." Against 740, that is 55 per cent — and the manifesto itself concedes the gap by promising to expedite "the remaining schools".

What is unusual about this answer is that it identifies the obstacle rather than describing effort. Asked about it, the ministry supplies "the state-wise details of number of EMRSs against which encumbrance free land has not been provided by States". Schools are sanctioned centrally and built on land the state must hand over free of encumbrance; where the state does not, the sanction sits. The Centre's response has been to lower the bar: "In September, 2020, the criteria of requirement of 15 acres of land was relaxed to 10 acres. The 10 acres of land can accommodate the required buildings and sports facilities. Only the size of the playground and other sports courts has to be reduced proportionately in case of smaller plots."

The distribution of what exists is very uneven. Chhattisgarh has 74 functional schools, Gujarat 34, Andhra Pradesh 28, Jammu and Kashmir 6, Arunachal Pradesh 5, Himachal Pradesh 4, Assam 1 and Bihar none — in a programme whose purpose is to put a residential school within reach of tribal children wherever they live.

On capacity, each school "when functional till XII standard" has "a total maximum sanctioned strength of 480 students per school, with equal number of seats reserved for boys and girls". Four hundred and four schools at full strength is about 1.94 lakh places, against a scheduled tribe population of over ten crore. These schools are meant to be centres of excellence rather than universal provision, but the arithmetic is worth stating.

No CAG audit of the programme is in our corpus, and the answer reports schools "made functional" rather than schools with buildings, teachers in post and hostels running — distinctions that have mattered in other programmes in this corpus.

The term runs to 2029. A real target, a little over half delivered, held up mainly by land that states have not transferred. Our verdict is partly accurate.