CIL & NSTFDC Sign MoU to Empower Over 30,000 Tribal Students in Eklavya Model Residential Schools.

In September 2025, Coal India Limited (CIL), under the Ministry of Coal, signed an MoU with the National Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development Corporation (NSTFDC), under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA), to support over 30,000 tribal students in 76 Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) across Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha.

      - The signing took place at the National Tribal Research Institute (NTRI), New Delhi, in the presence of Union Ministers G. Kishan Reddy and Jual Oram.

      - The project titled “Empowering Tribal Students through Digital Access, Career Mentorship, Menstrual Hygiene, and Teacher Capacity Building” aims to strengthen tribal education with targeted interventions.

      - The digital access component will provide 1,200 computers, 1,200 UPS units, and 110 tablets to bridge the digital divide and promote technology-enabled learning in EMRS.

Main Point :-   (i) Career mentorship will be extended to 6,200 students of Classes 10 and 12 through structured counselling to prepare them for higher education and competitive exams.

      (ii) The menstrual hygiene initiative will introduce 420 sanitary pad vending machines and 420 incinerators, ensuring health and hygiene support for girl students in EMRS.

(iii) CIL has sanctioned ₹10 crore for the project, which will be implemented by NSTFDC in a time-bound manner to empower tribal students through education, mentorship, and well-being initiatives.