Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya

It was a scheme was introduced by the Government of India in August 2004, then integrated in the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan program, to provide educational facilities for girls belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, minority communities and families below the poverty line in Educationally Backward Blocks

Gender disparities still persist in rural areas and among disadvantaged communities. Looking at enrollment trends, there remain significant gaps in the enrollment of girls at the elementary level as compared to boys, especially at the upper primary levels. The objective of KGBV is to ensure that quality education is feasible and accessible to the girls of disadvantaged groups of society by setting up residential schools with boarding facilities at elementary level.

The scheme was applicable since inception in 2004, in Educationally Backward Blocks (EBBs) where the rural female literacy is below the national average (46.13%: Census 2001) and gender gap in literacy is more than the national average (21.59%: Census 2001). Among these blocks, schools may be set up in areas with:

• concentration of tribal population, with low female literacy and/or a large number of girls out of school;
• concentration of SC, OBC and minority populations, with low female literacy and/or a large number of girls out of school;
• areas with low female literacy; or
• areas with a large number of small, scattered habitations that do not qualify for a school

The criteria of eligible blocks has been revised with effect from 1 April 2008 to include the following:

• An additional 316 Educationally backward blocks with rural female literacy below 30%; and
• 94 Towns/cities having minority concentration (as per the list identified by Ministry of Minority Affairs) with female literacy rate below the national average (53.67%: Census 2001).