For many years, hundreds of children in government primary schools in Ratlam (Madhya Pradesh) were forced to spend mornings sitting on the classroom floor due to a lack of desks. While secondary schools in the district acquired interactive whiteboards, they lacked digital content to be truly useful.
IAS officer Vaishali Jain, who serves as the Executive Director of Ratlam Zila Panchayat and Additional Collector, viewed these issues not as isolated gaps but as interconnected problems. Over nine months since assuming office, the Madhya Pradesh cadre officer from 2021 has created a three-tiered educational model for the district aimed at enhancing classroom dignity, improving learning, and fostering ambition.
Instead of fragmented programs, Ratlam now features a unified educational pathway that integrates access to infrastructure, technology, and education.
A remote survey revealed that basic furniture was missing in hundreds of primary schools. This finding formed the basis for the Gyanodaya - Shala Unnayan Abhiyan campaign, which aimed to install over 21,000 benches and desks in 1011 government primary schools, covering more than 42,000 students.
The administration did not limit itself to government funding; it invited villagers to participate in supporting their own schools by attracting Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) partners and funds from local Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs), mirroring examples of public school restoration in other parts of India through contributions from residents and corporations.
Thanks to a transparent system of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Google forms, approved supplier lists, and a public hotline, donors can directly select schools. Currently, about 200 schools are equipped with benches, and nearly 100 have undergone renovations, including the installation of rainwater harvesting systems to extend the lifespan of the buildings.
Jain noted: 'No student in these schools sits on the floor anymore. They sit very respectfully on their benches.' In her view, the presence of infrastructure signals to a child that they are valued even before the first lesson begins.
After making classrooms more conducive, Jain addressed a more complex challenge: how to ensure students in remote schools have access to the same quality of teaching as those elsewhere? The answer lay in the E-Gyan Setu project, designed to supplement, not replace, teachers in the ninth and tenth grades.
A team of 16 subject matter experts developed video lectures, preparatory courses, chapter materials, revision modules, worksheets, and AI-driven educational content aligned with the curriculum and delivered through the existing 'smart' classroom infrastructure. The program is being implemented in 100 government schools, with assessments conducted every two weeks to identify weaknesses and provide remedial support.
Plans are underway to create a specialized recording and content development studio for local languages such as Malvi and Bhili. Jain explained: 'We are bridging the knowledge gap. Traditional teaching has not been completely replaced, but we are supplementing teachers with additional learning materials so that students are more engaged in classes.'
According to Jain, the learning process should not end at the school gate. Students from rural Ratlam preparing for entrance exams often lacked a quiet place to study after school hours. Therefore, the administration launched the Public Rural Library initiative, converting unused government buildings into learning centers across six Panchayat areas using grants from the 15th Finance Commission.
Each library will provide seating, computers, internet access, and a quiet environment for a small hourly fee. The centers will be managed by women from Self-Help Groups, who will run adjacent Didi cafes, combining educational infrastructure with earning opportunities.
Jain's approach to governance predates Ratlam. While working in Rewa, she resolved over 9,000 cases in revenue courts, ensuring every applicant was heard, and discovered nearly 200 inactive bank accounts with expected land compensation, returning almost 100 crore rupees to farmers and helping the district identify another approximately 200 crore rupees in debt.
Jain acknowledges that results will not be immediate. She stated: 'Education requires continuous effort. You will see results in a year or two, or perhaps longer.'
Her teams continue to work in Ratlam's tribal blocks, meeting with parents, tracking attendance, painting schools, and installing benches—all toward one goal: ensuring that children in government schools genuinely want to attend. This is a philosophy she brought from Rewa: 'One complaint is not limited to just that person. The entire system can be changed for such cases.'
Amid the growing need for medical education in the country, the number of candidates appearing for the NEET-UG examination has increased by approximately 42.5 percent over the last seven years. According to data presented in the Lok Sabha by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, 14.10 lakh candidates appeared for the NEET-UG examination in 2019, while this number has risen to 19.99 lakh by 2026. This information was provided in response to Unstarred Question No. 3377 raised in the Lok Sabha, which was titled 'Students Appearing for NEET-UG and PG'. The answer to this question was given by the Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Anupriya Patel, on August 7, 2026.
According to the ministry's data, there has been a continuous increase in the number of students appearing for NEET-UG in recent years. In 2019, there were 14.10 lakh candidates, which rose to 15.44 lakh in 2021 and 17.65 lakh in 2022. For the first time in 2023, the number of candidates appearing for NEET-UG crossed the 20 lakh mark, with a total of 20.39 lakh students taking the exam. However, this number reached its highest level in 2024, when 23.33 lakh candidates took the exam. Following this, the number decreased; it stood at 22.09 lakh in 2025 and 19.99 lakh in 2026. Although the number of candidates in 2026 was lower than the record level of 2024, it is still about 5.99 lakh more than in 2019.
Along with the increase in NEET-UG candidates, the capacity of medical education in the country has also expanded. According to the Ministry of Health data, there were 387 medical colleges in the country in 2014, which has grown to 846 by 2026. Similarly, the number of MBBS seats has more than doubled in a decade. There were 51,348 MBBS seats in 2014, while this number has increased to 1,39,864 as of July 30, 2026. These seats include 66,221 MBBS seats in 464 government medical colleges and 73,643 seats in 382 private medical colleges.
In summary, there has been a significant expansion in the number of medical colleges and MBBS seats in the country over the past ten years, along with a substantial increase in the number of students appearing for NEET-UG compared to 2019, reflecting the growing demand and competition in medical education.
Serious measures have been taken at Gujarat University regarding appointments made during the tenure of former Vice Chancellor (VC) Niraj Gupta. The university has suspended ten employees who were appointed in various departments during her leadership. It is alleged that these appointments were rushed, and these employees were paid large monthly salaries, with some receiving up to 500,000 rupees.
A few days ago, the student organization ABVP demanded the removal of these ten controversially appointed employees who had been inducted into the university. In response, the responsible Vice Chancellor of Gujarat University, Jagish Joshi, formed a three-member committee on August 5th to investigate the qualifications, hiring rules, and the appointment process of these employees. After the investigation was completed and the report received, the committee ordered the temporary suspension of all ten employees pending further orders.
Following the investigation, the responsible Vice Chancellor of Gujarat University, Jagish Joshi, announced the immediate suspension of the following individuals: Srinivas Rao Sureddy, CEO of GUSEC; Mansingh Rau, CEO of IDSRF; Bishwajit Adhikari, Senior Vice President of GUSEC; Dinesh Kumar, OSD of Accounts Department; Pavana Pandit, Director of CPC and Head of KS; Chandrashekhar Jha, Engineer of Real Estate Department; Dr. Raja Chawla and Sonal Malhotra, Professor and Intern; Tushar Trivedi, Lawyer; Paresh Soni, Firefighter. These employees were suspended immediately after receiving the report from the three-member investigative committee. Numerous questions arose surrounding their appointments made under the previous Vice Chancellor, which led to the decision for their temporary suspension.
ABVP Minister Karnavati Nagar, Dhrumil Akhani, stated that the movement had been protesting against illegal appointments in the university for a long time. He noted that some of these individuals lacked the necessary qualifications, and some were even retired employees of SBI or ONGC, yet they were illegally appointed to university positions with salaries ranging from 2 to 5 lakhs. Akhani emphasized that these funds should have been used for the needs of ordinary students. He also stated that merely suspending these ten employees, who were paid millions of rupees in violation of UGC guidelines, is insufficient; a full restitution of the funds that should have gone to the benefit of students must be made.
Dhrumil Akhani added that the annual expenditure for the first four employees in GUSEC was 30 lakh rupees, but after the new appointments over the last three years, this amount has grown to more than 10 million rupees. He clarified that the former GUSEC employee was appointed with a salary of 5 lakh rupees per month, while other employees received 2.5 lakh rupees. Appointments in departments such as Accounts, Legal, Firefighting, and CPC were made without any approval and were accompanied by huge salary payments. These appointments clearly violated UGC rules. Although all employees were suspended after the protests, activists insist that the university return all the millions of rupees paid to these employees.
