For children who grow up without a fixed address — nomadic families who move with the seasons — a school that also provides a bed and a meal is not a convenience. It is the difference between an education and none at all. The Chief Minister's Office of Uttar Pradesh, citing Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, announced on Thursday, 6 August 2026 that the state has established Ashram Paddhati Vidyalayas — residential schools offering free modern education, lodging, and food — for children from nomadic tribes, Scheduled Castes (SC), and Scheduled Tribes (ST).

The post, shared from the official CMO account, quotes CM Yogi Adityanath directly: 'घुमन्तू जातियों के साथ-साथ अनुसूचित जाति एवं अनुसूचित जनजाति के बच्चों के लिए सरकार ने आश्रम पद्धति विद्यालय स्थापित किए हैं' — ('The government has established Ashram Paddhati Vidyalayas for children of nomadic tribes, as well as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes') — where they receive state-of-the-art education alongside free lodging and food.

What the Ashram Paddhati model actually does

The Ashram Paddhati Vidyalaya is a residential school model designed to eliminate the two biggest barriers keeping marginalised children out of classrooms: distance and cost. By bundling free accommodation and meals with modern instruction, the model targets communities where daily migration or poverty makes regular school attendance structurally impossible. Nomadic tribes — who by definition have no stable residence — have historically been among the most education-excluded groups in India.

Similar Ashram school frameworks operate in several other Indian states, particularly under central tribal welfare guidelines, making Uttar Pradesh's inclusion of nomadic and SC communities alongside ST children a notable extension of the model's reach.

The constitutional thread running through this policy

Article 46 of the Indian Constitution directs states to promote the educational and economic interests of weaker sections, particularly SCs and STs. Uttar Pradesh's residential school push sits squarely within that mandate — and reflects a broader pattern across the state's welfare agenda under CM Yogi Adityanath, who has governed the state since March 2017. Expanding access to quality schooling for communities that have long sat at the margins of the formal education system is both a constitutional obligation and a political signal about who the state's welfare architecture is built to serve.

Enrollment figures, the total number of schools currently operational, and any recent expansion targets remain to be detailed in state budget and education department disclosures — but the policy direction is clear. When a government makes the school the home, it removes the excuse that geography or poverty can offer.