However, according to recent findings by the Centre, NGOs in the state have performed far better in providing facilities and running KGBVs than the state government.

Mahila Samakhya, one of the largest government-supported-NGOs in the country, opened up four more KGBVs in the state on Saturday, raising its current list to 14. And sources say the Centre will extend an open-handed support to such NGOs rather than the state department.

The new KGBVs were launched in Sitapur and Muzzafarnagar districts. Mahila Samakhya already has a KGBV in the Mishrikh block in Sitapur and Oon block in Muzzafarnagar. Apart from these, Allahabad, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Jaunpur, Mathura, Mau, Pratapgarh and Saharanpur also have a KGBV being run by the NGO.

The government also runs a KGBV in some of these districts. But most of them are either without proper buildings, or with very few students. An official of the state’s education department admitted, “KGBV is just one of the schemes we have to work on. We are facing a lot of difficulties in finding proper buildings where we can accommodate 100 girls, or even enroll them. Also, we are still short of trained teachers for these KGBVs.” He added that the department is trying its best to ensure they are able to provide trained teachers and proper buildings at the earliest.

Things seem more cheerful at the NGO’s side. Representatives of the Mahila Samakhya say they have been selecting teachers and training them regularly to ensure that none of the KGBVs fall short of trained staff. Smriti Singh of Samakhya said, “Almost all our KGBVs, whether type one (capacity 100 students) or type two (capacity 50 students), have full enrollment.

She added that both the Centre and the state have been extremely supportive in bringing more and more girls under the ambit of the scheme.

Sources in the HRD ministry say the government is planning to involve more NGOs to support this programme.