Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday called for a comprehensive overhaul of the management and functioning of Jai Prakash Narayan Sarvodaya residential schools and directed officials to expedite the recruitment of teachers against vacant posts, officials said.
Chairinga review meeting of the Social Welfare Department in the presence of Minister Asim Arun, Adityanath directed officials to frame clear rules for the schools and initiate steps for setting up a society to ensure more systematic management and functioning of the institutions, according to an official statement.
The review meeting comes as Uttar Pradesh witnessed a series of Gen Alpha student protests in recent weeks, with schoolchildren taking to the streets and even approaching district collectorates to press for basic amenities, infrastructure improvements and other demands in Lucknow, Kannauj, Unnao, Fatehpur, Hamirpur, Mahoba and Azamgarh, among other places.
In Lucknow, students raised concerns, including over shortage of teachers in government-run residential schools twice within a week, by blockading road traffic amid rains.
The chief minister sought information on the availability of teachers and other staff, facilities being provided to students and the overall management of the schools, the statement said.
The meeting was informed that the number of the Social Welfare Department-run Jai Prakash Narayan Sarvodaya schools in Uttar Pradesh has increased from 93 before 2017 to 103 in 2025-26. Of these, 59 are affiliated with the CBSE and 44 with the Uttar Pradesh Board, it stated.
Adityanath directed officials to speed up the process of filling vacant teaching posts and ensure adequate human resources in accordance with students' academic requirements.
Further, the chief minister also directed officials to verify applications of eligible elderly people who have not yet received old-age pension and ensure that they are brought under the scheme at the earliest.
"Eligible elderly people should not have to wait unnecessarily," he said, stressing that the process from verification of applications to sanctioning of pension should be completed within a stipulated timeframe.
The meeting was informed that the number of beneficiaries under the National Old Age Pension Scheme has increased from 37.47 lakh in 2017-18 to 67.50 lakh in 2025-26. Around 11.50 lakh new applications are currently pending.
Reviewing the Mukhyamantri Abhyudaya Yojana, Adityanath stressed the need to make the scheme more effective and expand its reach so that students preparing for competitive examinations receive quality guidance.
He directed officials to make better use of available resources and ensure that more students benefit from the experience of the best teachers and experts, according to the statement.
The scheme is currently being run through 163 centres across all 75 districts of the state. The centres have 1,783 empanelled teachers and 23,801 students registered for examinations including the UPSC, PCS, NEET, JEE and NDA/CDS, it stated.
Four Centres of Excellence are also being operated under the scheme, it added.
Reviewing the latest status of scholarship distribution, the chief minister instructed officials to ensure that every eligible student receives the benefit on time.
He ordered that the application portal be reopened immediately for students who were left out of the pre-matric and post-matric scholarship schemes and directed that the scholarship amounts be transferred by October 2 in all circumstances.
Adityanath also called for the speedy resolution of technical and procedural difficulties affecting scholarship distribution so that eligible students are not denied the opportunity to receive the benefit.
Officials said arrangements were being made to provide another opportunity to around 3.16 lakh students who were left out of scholarship benefits for various reasons. They include 31,836 students from government institutions, 69,631 from aided institutions and 2,46,426 from private institutions.
This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.
