Lucknow: Lauding the New Education Policy (NEP), Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said that India is one country that has made Right to Education a fundamental right and will soon implement ‘One Nation, One Scholarship’ for the benefit of students.

Addressing students at a scholarship disbursement ceremony, Yogi said, “The economic progress of any nation or state begins with education, and it is the govt’s responsibility to provide students with better educational opportunities.”

“Earlier, nearly 5,00,000 students from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were unable to receive scholarships due to institutions failing to upload data on time, which resulted in their records being locked,” he said.

“Before 2017, scholarships distributed by the govt never reached students. Scholarships that should be distributed in Sept-Oct were delayed until March-April and were often subject to discrimination. In 2016, Scheduled Tribe students were denied scholarships altogether. Our govt has arranged funds to ensure students get scholarships before Diwali,” he said.

Assuring that every student who was deprived earlier would have the amount transferred directly into their bank accounts, Yogi said, “After assuming office, we ensured that scholarships for both 2016-17 and 2017-18 were disbursed.”

The CM told the students that the responsibility of leading the next generation would soon rest on their shoulders, and they should be mentally prepared for it.

“You should reflect on the kind of India you wish to build. Divisive forces once enslaved the nation, but under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, a campaign to build a new India is underway,” he said.

“Certain elements are once again attempting to create divisions in society to hinder India’s vision of becoming a self-reliant and developed nation. Collective effort should be to unite, not divide, and to ensure that every child has access to quality education,” Yogi said.

“It is our collective duty to connect students, especially those from underprivileged backgrounds, with schools and to continuously work towards strengthening their education,” he said.

The CM said his govt was strengthening the scholarship system by leveraging technology, using artificial intelligence to simplify verification, and ensuring seamless DBT transfers to eliminate middlemen and irregularities.

“Education is central to achieving sustainable development goals. Wherever marginalised communities exist, education remains the most powerful tool for empowerment and development,” he said.

Highlighting the govt’s achievements, Yogi said that the social welfare department was providing scholarships to four lakh students of classes 9-12 from SC, ST, and general categories.

In the first phase, 1.12 lakh students availed themselves of the benefit. Over 2.5 lakh students are benefitting from scholarships from backward classes welfare department and 25,000 students from minority welfare department.

“Between 2017-18 and 2024-25, a total of Rs 9,150 crore was transferred via DBT to 1.23 crore SC/ST students. Similarly, Rs 5,945 crore was disbursed to 5.89 lakh students from general category,” he said.

Presenting year-wise breakdown, the CM said scholarships worth Rs 1,648.91 crore were given in 2017-18, Rs 1,883.96 crore in 2018-19, Rs 1,887.29 crore in 2019-20, Rs 1,505.53 crore in 2020-21, Rs 1,581.42 crore in 2021-22, Rs 1,813.97 crore in 2022-23, Rs 2,608.13 crore in 2023-24, Rs 2,861.38 crore in 2024-25, and Rs 3,124.45 crore in 2025-26.

Yogi said Anganwadi centres were being strengthened, where children aged 3-6 were linked with the Nutrition Mission. “Ashram-style schools are being established to provide quality education to SC/ST children. Atal Residential Schools, modelled after Sainik Schools, are being developed to provide quality education from classes 6-12 for children of registered labourers and families enlisted with the OBC Board,” he said.