By Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has called for a broad overhaul of the state’s Jai Prakash Narayan Sarvodaya Vidyalayas, directing officials to streamline their administration, speed up the recruitment of vacant teaching posts and create a dedicated society to manage the residential schools.
The Chief Minister also reviewed old-age pensions, competitive-exam coaching and scholarship distribution during a meeting on Thursday with the Social Welfare Department. His directions focused on reducing delays, strengthening staffing and ensuring that government welfare and education programmes reach eligible beneficiaries more efficiently.
Sarvodaya schools to get a more structured management system
Reviewing the functioning of the Sarvodaya schools in the presence of Social Welfare Minister Asim Arun, Adityanath sought a clearly defined operational framework for the institutions.
Officials told the meeting that Uttar Pradesh had 93 Jai Prakash Narayan Sarvodaya Vidyalayas before 2017. The number has since risen to 103 in the 2025-26 academic session. Of these, 59 schools are affiliated with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), while the remaining 44 follow the Uttar Pradesh Board.
The Chief Minister reviewed the availability of teachers and support staff, student facilities and the overall administrative arrangements at the schools.
He directed officials to speed up recruitment against vacant teaching posts and ensure that schools have adequate support staff to meet students’ academic and other developmental requirements.
Adityanath also called for the creation of a dedicated society to oversee the administration of these residential institutions, with the aim of making their functioning more organised and accountable.
CM asks officials to clear pending old-age pension applications
The Chief Minister also reviewed the implementation of the Old Age Pension Scheme and directed officials to verify pending applications of eligible senior citizens and ensure that pension payments are released without unnecessary delays.
He stressed that the process from verification of an application to approval of pension benefits should follow a fixed timeline.
According to officials, beneficiaries under the National Old Age Pension Scheme have increased from 37.47 lakh in 2017-18 to 67.50 lakh in 2025-26. At present, around 11.50 lakh fresh applications are awaiting verification and approval.
The Chief Minister asked the department to ensure that eligible elderly people do not remain waiting because of procedural delays.
Abhyudaya Scheme to focus on better competitive-exam guidance
During the review of the Chief Minister Abhyudaya Scheme, Adityanath stressed the need to improve the quality and reach of coaching available to students preparing for competitive examinations.
He directed officials to make greater use of available resources and ensure that experienced teachers and subject experts are able to guide a larger number of aspirants.
The scheme is currently operating in all 75 districts through 163 centres. Officials said 1,783 empanelled teachers are associated with the centres, while 23,801 students have registered for examinations including UPSC, PCS, NEET, JEE and NDA/CDS.
Four Centres of Excellence are also functioning under the scheme.
Scholarship portal to reopen for students who missed applications
Scholarship distribution was another key issue reviewed during the meeting. Adityanath directed officials to reopen the application portal for eligible students who could not apply for pre-matric and post-matric scholarships.
He instructed the department to resolve technical and procedural problems quickly and ensure that the scholarship amount reaches eligible students by October 2.
Officials said nearly 3.16 lakh students who were left out of the scholarship process for various reasons would get another opportunity to apply.
The group includes 31,836 students from government institutions, 69,631 from aided institutions and 2,46,426 from private institutions.
The Chief Minister stressed that eligible students should not lose access to financial assistance because of technical issues or delays in the application process.
