How Uttar Pradesh is rebuilding its govt schools from the ground up

Since 2018, Operation Kayakalp has been upgrading basic facilities in Uttar Pradesh's council schools against a defined 19-point standard, and NITI Aayog has cited it as a model initiative.For years, many government primary and upper-primary schools in Uttar Pradesh lacked basic facilities - toilets, drinking water, boundary walls, proper seating, or even electricity. Operation Kayakalp, launched by the Uttar Pradesh government in 2018, was designed to change that by systematically upgrading these schools against a defined standard.WHAT DOES OPERATION KAYAKALP COVER?The initiative evaluates and upgrades schools across 19 key parameters, including:Classrooms, boundary walls and gatesDrinking water and separate toilets for boys and girlsElectricity connections and lightingFurniture and smart/digital classroomsPlaygrounds, libraries and handwash stationsPROGRESS SO FARAs of September 2025, the state government reported that 97% of basic facilities under Kayakalp had been developed across council schoolsAn earlier assembly update (December 2025) put furniture coverage specifically at 65%, with a target of 100% set for that yearAbout 1.66 crore boys and girls currently study in the state's council schoolsThe government allocated 1,000 crore for Operation Kayakalp in the 2024-25 state budgetFor transparency, each school's upgrade work is geo-tagged under a photo protocol, with real-time monitoring through the Prerna portalBEYOND PRIMARY SCHOOLS: PROJECT ALANKARA parallel initiative, Project Alankar, extends similar upgrades to secondary schools. It has mapped 2,295 schools across 27 parameters, adding smart classrooms, computer labs, Wi-Fi, laboratories and modern furniture, along with safety features like CCTV, fire safety equipment and biometric attendance. RECOGNITION AND SCALENITI Aayog has cited Operation Kayakalp as a model initiative worth replicating elsewhere in the country. Since August 2025, under-enrolled schools (with fewer than 50 students) are being paired with better-equipped nearby schools, so students retain access to improved facilities while the government reassesses low-enrolment campuses.- EndsPublished By: Ritaban MisraPublished On: Sep 4, 2026 12:57 IST