New Delhi, February 11 The Centre alleged on Wednesday that West Bengal has "completely abandoned" the school volunteer initiative – the Vidyanjali scheme – launched in September 2021.
Responding to supplementary questions in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Education Jayant Chaudhary said that out of over 82,000 schools in West Bengal, only 55 have enrolled in the scheme.
BJP MP from West Bengal, Samik Bhattacharya, had asked during question hour about the participation of West Bengal in the Vidyanjali scheme compared to other states, alleging that central government schemes were not being implemented in the state.
"I share the sentiments of the member. Unfortunately, the state of West Bengal has completely abandoned this scheme... Let me reinforce this by giving you the facts. Out of 82,159 government schools, only 55 schools have enrolled in the scheme," the minister informed the House.
"Because the government does not want to implement the scheme, the number of volunteers under the scheme is also low, as only 2,134 individuals from West Bengal have enrolled as volunteers," he also said.
Accordingly, he said, there are no CSR projects being undertaken, and none of the projects have been completed.
"Due to a narrow political mindset, where 2 crore students across the country have benefited from the scheme, children in West Bengal have not been able to benefit. This should not be acceptable. I appeal to them. Please reach out to your government."
"This is a platform for the youth of West Bengal. Do they not want libraries, do the government schools in West Bengal not want playgrounds, and do they not want computers and smart classrooms? Then, when the community wants to provide resources, let's enable them. Let the government schools in West Bengal join the Vidyanjali scheme," Chaudhary said.
Earlier, Bhattacharya had said, "Whether it is railways, whether it is the freight corridor, whether it is oil fields, whether it is education, everything is getting stalled."
In his written reply to the question, Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan said, "The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 promotes the involvement of communities and alumni in volunteer efforts to enhance learning in schools. To encourage community volunteer engagement, Vidyanjali – a school volunteer initiative – was launched in September 2021.
"It enables community members, individual volunteers, institutions, organizations, alumni, NRIs, serving and retired officials/teachers, and civil societies to directly connect with Government and Government-aided schools and contribute their services and assets, materials, and equipment."
"As of November 2025, a total of 8,17,711 government and government-aided schools, 5,59,862 volunteers, and 2,676 partner organizations, including CSR entities, institutions, and civil society organizations, have been registered on the Vidyanjali portal. At present, 8,43,961 government and government-aided schools, 5,61,843 volunteers, and 2,687 partner organizations have been registered on the portal," he said.
The infrastructure support includes teaching-learning materials, ICT, and digital facilities, STEM and innovation labs, sports equipment, libraries, laboratories, sanitation facilities, renewable energy solutions, and minor civil works.
Vidyanjali has strengthened learning support services and improved infrastructure in government and government-aided schools. It has contributed to a better learning environment, higher student engagement, greater exposure to experiential and hands-on learning, and improved availability of school resources, the minister said.
"To date, more than 56,734 service activities and 35,695 asset contributions have been completed through the Vidyanjali portal, benefiting over 2 crore students across the country," Pradhan said.