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Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV): History, Aims & More | UPSC Notes

Last Updated on Jul 11, 2025
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Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya is a small, coordinated effort by the Government of India to provide quality education for better living to the girl child populace mantled in the marginalized section of society, especially in rural areas. This scheme converges on the system of education and skills-building of girls who never get enrolled or remain left out from the regular schooling system because of several socio-economic factors that crippled their empowerment and social upliftment. By setting up residential schools, the KGBV scheme bridges gender gaps in education.

Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya can be termed as one of the important topics for UPSC Civil Services Examination. This falls primarily into the category of Social Issues in General Studies Paper II. Moreover, it rightly goes under the umbrella of Educational policies and Schemes that fall under the important view of Policy formulation and Governance in the UPSC syllabus.

GS Paper

General Studies Paper II

Topics for UPSC Prelims

KGBV Scheme, Girl Education, Marginalized Communities, Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), Minority Communities, Below Poverty Line (BPL), Female Literacy Rate, Dropout Rates, Gender Gap in Education.

Topics for UPSC Mains

Development of Female Education in India, Government Schemes for Education, Social Empowerment through Education

About the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya

Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya is one of the flagship programs undertaken by the Government of India since July 2004, and it has been an important step in education aimed at further cementing quality education for girls from needy and disadvantaged groups in backward rural areas where the rate of female literacy hovers at a very low level. Particularly, this scheme targeted girls who are admitted from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, and minority communities apart from those girls who come from Below Poverty Line families. KGBV provides for residential schools with free education, boarding, lodging, uniforms, and study materials up to the upper primary level; in some cases, this extends up to the secondary level. The institution has focused and emphasized on bridging the gender gap in education, reducing dropouts, and empowering girls with skills—academic and life-oriented—for their social and economic upliftment. This institution has been named after Kasturba Gandhi, a freedom fighter who strove much for women and their education.

History

In July 2004, the Government of India launched a scheme under the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya. This scheme was introduced with the purpose of improving the educational status of a girl child, particularly targeting minority communities and other weaker sections of society. The scheme is named after Kasturba Gandhi, who happened to be an enthusiastic promoter of the rights of women and female education. In the initial phase, the scheme was launched in districts with low girl literacy rate. Since then, it has been further expanded and currently covers a more diverse population of socioeconomically backward classes.

Read the article on the State of School Education in India!

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Objectives of the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas

The prime objectives of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas are as follows:

  • These schools are established to get the highest possible enrollment of girls to bridge the gender gap in education through quality learning experiences.
  • It aims to increase the literacy rate of girls coming from backward and minority communities.
  • The dropout rate of girls can be reduced, which is generally higher than that of boys due to some socio-economic and cultural reasons.
  • Girls can continue their studies without the hassles of distance and parental inattention with the facilities of residential school.
  • Besides academic education, life skills and vocational training may also be inculcated, so that the process of empowerment for a better future is possible.

Read the article on Literacy and School Education!

Eligibility Criteria

To make the scheme reach out to the intended beneficiaries, eligibility criteria for admissions into Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas has been specified. This includes:

  • Girls from SC, ST, OBC, Minorities and Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.
  • The focus is on the girl child in the upper primary level, Classes VI to VIII, though there are provisions for its extension up to secondary levels in some cases.
  • The girl children out of school and those at risk of dropping out are prioritized.

Coverage of the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya Scheme

It has scaled up from an initial 75 districts in many states to now cover a higher demographic. It has brought together currently over 3,500 educationally backward blocks in various states across the country, according to the latest data available in the Ministry of Education records. Each KGBV is designed for 50-100 girls and provides free boarding and lodging apart from free uniforms and study materials.

Read the article on the National Education Policy 2020!

Targets and Achievements of the KGBV Scheme

Ambitious targets for raising the enrolment rate and reducing the drop-out rate of the girl-child had been set out ever since the KGBV scheme was launched. More than 40 lakh girls have reportedly benefited under the scheme according to the Ministry of Education's latest Annual Report. The enrollment figures are pretty impressive; the drop-out rate has come down by an estimated 30% since the scheme was put into effect.

Significance of the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya Scheme

The KGBV scheme is much more significant than mere literacy. It caters to some of the following main focus areas:

  • Empowerment: KGBV has been working for the empowerment of girls from SC, ST, OBC, and minority communities through education and boarding facilities. It provides them with the confidence to realize their dream and potential.
  • Social Change: Education has, in fact, been identified as a source of social change throughout the world. Educated girls are likely to marry late and have smaller families, besides taking care that their children get educated.
  • Economic Impact: Education and vocational skills make girls employable and, in this manner, boost the economy's development.
  • Gender Equality: It evens out sex disparities in education, hence rendering equal opportunities for girls.
  • Holistic Development: Giving them training in life skills and vocational skills makes a provision for their holistic development to the varied challenges in life.

Read the article on the National Digital Education Architecture NDEAR!

Issues Concerning the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya Scheme

As successful as the KGBV scheme is, it has its due share of issues, which includes:

  • Infrastructure: Most of the KGBVs face infrastructural problems, from inadequacy of classrooms to poor sanitation facilities and a lack of proper boarding arrangements.
  • Quality of Education: It creates questions about the quality of education being imparted here because problems such as teacher absenteeism and lack of trained staff are rampant.
  • Monitoring and Evaluation: The monitoring and evaluation mechanisms have to be streamlined, in order to make the scheme an actual success.
  • Retention Rates: Though enrollment rates have improved, dropout rates remain high due to various reasons, which mainly include other socio-economic pressures and early marriages.
  • Awareness: A complete lack of awareness prevails among many localities about the facilities and benefits under the KGBV scheme and thus remains underutilized in some areas.

Key Takeaways for UPSC Aspirants

  • Initiative Purpose: Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) was initiated to provide quality education for girls from the marginalized section of society, especially in rural areas having low female literacy rates.
  • Target Beneficiaries: SC, ST, OBC, and minorities, and girls below the poverty line.
  • Residential Schools: KGBV establishes residential schools with free boardings, lodgings, uniforms, and study materials to help girls study without any breakups in education at the upper primary and secondary levels.
  • Empowerment and Social Upliftment: The scheme is aimed at empowering girls through education in order to reduce the drop-out rate and bridge the gender gap in education, thereby contributing to the overall social and economic upliftment of girls.
  • Implementation Coverage: More than 3,500 educationally backward blocks in different states all over India have been covered under the KGBV program, and since its inception in 2004, it has come a long way in terms of reach.
  • Community Awareness and Retention: Notwithstanding the successes, issues like infrastructural inadequacies, the poor quality of education, monitoring, retention rates, and lack of awareness in some areas are yet to be worked upon.
  • Targets and Achievements: The scheme aims to improve the female literacy rate. It provides vocational training with academic education and has benefited over 40 lakh girls, as per the latest data received from the Ministry of Education.

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Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya UPSC FAQs

Eligibility criteria may include SC, ST, OBC, and minority community girls and those below the poverty line; upper primary level girls—that is, classes VI to VIII and out-of-school girls.

The scheme has resulted in manifold increase in the rates of enrollment and decline in the dropping out of disadvantaged girls who have been empowered by education as an equal opportunity for social and economic development.

The infrastructural inadequacies, poor quality of education because of inadequate training of teachers, problems in the retention rate, and lack of awareness regarding the benefits which accrue from the scheme.

Through the Ministry of Education reports, the evaluation studies, and stakeholder feedback involved in the implementation of the Scheme through various mechanisms.

It aims at qualitative education for girls from SC, ST, OBC, minorities, below-poverty-line families, and other such marginalized communities, so that it would bridge a yawning gap between the two sexes as far as education is concerned.

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