Recently, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced that now 91.8 percent of the schools in the country have electricity, which used to be only 53% during 2013-14. This development speaks volumes of the overall endeavor of the government to better the learning environment for its students all across the country. 

Speaking during a press briefing on 17 December 2024, Pradhan was emphatic that the rising tide of electrification is a part of the larger momentum for better school infrastructure especially in underprivileged and rural areas that have, until now, struggled to even provide electricity. Over the past decade, this thrust upon improving infrastructure has helped to open up millions of learning environments for students. 

This can be further supported by statistics for the Unified District Information System for Education Plus for the year 2021-22, as that is tracking the progress in all educational sectors. Until the year 2019-20, it had 80.16% schools with electricity and for the year 2020-21, it rose to 83.92% and for the year 2021-22, to 86.58%. These statistics indicate a steady and consistent improvement in electrification across the country. 

Some states have achieved close to 100% electrification with Union Territories such as Delhi, Chandigarh, and Puducherry reporting that schools now have 100% electrification. Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Punjab, Kerala, Sikkim, Haryana, and Karnataka also performed well with rates above 97%. Nevertheless, an urban-rural gap can be observed. Urban schools generally have better access to electricity than their rural counterparts, and schools in some northeastern states and regions like Odisha and Jammu & Kashmir report lower electrification rates. 

The importance of electricity in schools is not only the basic lighting and ventilation, but it also opens doors for students to learn modern educational tools such as smart classrooms, computers, and audio-visual equipment, which are very vital to the digital learning ecosystem. For government and rural schools, it may be a drastic improvement in terms of quality education and opportunities. This  move reflects  the commitment of the Indian Government to upgrading educational facilities throughout the country so that access to quality education remains comprehensive and universal.