Vidyanjali: how volunteers and NGOs contribute to government schools

What is Vidyanjali?

Since September 2021 the Department of School Education and Literacy in the Ministry of Education has run Vidyanjali as a portal for "facilitating the community and volunteers to directly connect with the government and government-aided schools to contribute their services and/or assets/ materials/equipments", in the words of its About page. A school posts a need. A volunteer, NGO or company offers to meet it.

A written reply in the Rajya Sabha on 5 August 2026, published by the Press Information Bureau, ties the initiative to Para 3.7 of the National Education Policy 2020. That paragraph, the reply says, "envisages greater involvement of community members and alumni in volunteer efforts" such as one-to-one tutoring, remedial support and career guidance.

The ministry's year-end review of the Department of School Education and Literacy, released on 7 January 2024, says the effort "is not to substitute the government's responsibility, but to complement, supplement and strengthen government efforts". A minister's reply of 12 February 2026 describes Vidyanjali as complementing government efforts under Samagra Shiksha.

What is Vidyanjali 2.0, and when was it launched?

"Vidyanjali 2.0" is a phrase the Prime Minister used in the speech in which he launched the portal. On 7 September 2021, at the inaugural conclave of Shikshak Parv held by video conference, he launched the "Vidyanjali portal (for facilitating education volunteers/ donors/ CSR contributors for school development)", according to the PIB release of that day.

The same release reports him saying that "'Vidyanjali 2.0' is like a platform for the country's resolve of 'Sabka Prayas'", and that "our private sector has to come forward and contribute to increasing the quality of education in government schools".

There was an earlier Vidyanjali. A PIB release of 20 March 2017, carrying a Lok Sabha reply, says the Central Government launched "Vidyanjali", a School Volunteer programme, on 16 June 2016, under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. Volunteers were to run co-scholastic activities such as reading and creative writing with children in standard 1 to 8 of government elementary schools, through a portal developed by MyGov.in.

That 2016 programme was being run on a pilot basis across 21 States and UTs. The release said it would involve people from the Indian diaspora, retired teachers, retired government officials, retired professionals and "women who are home makers, having graduation degree". The 2021 portal is wider. Its About page speaks of government and government-aided schools with no class range, and adds assets and CSR to services.

The ministry's releases of 11 December 2023 and 12 February 2026 both call the current portal Vidyanjali and date its launch to September 2021. The PM's phrase appears on some official pages: Samagra Shiksha Axom, in Assam, titles its page "Vidyanjali 2.0" and links to the same portal. There is one portal to use, at vidyanjali.education.gov.in. A site offering a separate 2.0 sign-up deserves a second look.

Who can volunteer on Vidyanjali?

Vidyanjali's About page names who the portal is for: "alumni of educational institutions, serving and retired teachers, scientists, government/semi-government officials, retired armed forces personnel, self-employed and salaried professionals, homemakers, persons from Indian diaspora and any other organization/group or company". Registration has two doors, one for schools, one marked Individual/NGO/CSR. The Vidyanjali Project Management Unit's User Guide for Volunteer Registration & contribution Process on Vidyanjali portal sets out separate processes for an individual, a civil society organisation or NGO, and an NRI or PIO.

That list does not name current college students as a category. The home page adds "young professionals" to the people it hopes to connect with schools. The current About and FAQ pages name no degree requirement and set no minimum age, so if you are unsure whether you fit, ask through the portal's contact page before you commit to a school.

The schools on the portal are government and government-aided schools only. A private school is outside the scheme however close it is. Vidyanjali is one route among several for student volunteering; the others are in the guide to volunteering in India for students.

What can a volunteer contribute: service or assets?

A volunteer can give time as a service or activity, or give assets, material or equipment. The home page lists four ways to contribute: "Service/Activity", "Assets/Material/Equipment", "School Twining" and "Corporate Social Responsibility". Services use your knowledge and skills; assets are things a school has asked for.

On the service side, the Where to Contribute page groups requests into categories that include "Subject assistance" (help with "Math,Science, Languages, etc"), "Mentoring Students for Career Counselling", "Teaching Art & craft", "Teaching Languages" and "Teaching Yoga / Sports". Adult education and awareness on the ill effects of drug, tobacco and substance use are categories too. Each one shows a live count of active requests.

The FAQ gives a separate, indicative list of activities, from reading and pronunciation for children to public speaking, model making, music and dance. It adds that the master list of activities is managed by the Ministry of Education only.

On the asset side, the About page names basic civil and electrical infrastructure, digital infrastructure, equipment for extra-curricular activities and sports, yoga, health and safety aids, teaching learning materials, maintenance and repairs, and office stationery and furniture. Several categories on the contribute page are sponsorships, such as "Sponsoring Medical Camps by Doctors", where the contributor pays for a professional to come in.

A service costs time rather than money. Subject assistance is the category to look at if you are confident in a school subject, and B.Ed students wanting classroom time can also read the guide to internships for B.Ed and teaching students.

How do you register and offer to help a school?

You register as an individual, log in, choose a school and submit an offer; the school then decides whether to take it up. The portal's FAQ sets out the volunteer's steps in this order:

1. Log in to the portal as a volunteer.
2. Select the school you want to contribute to.
3. Select the type of contribution.
4. Fill in the details.
5. Submit the form.

The PMU user guide adds some detail. An individual fills in the form, clicks "Get OTP", submits the one-time password (OTP) and then clicks Registration. After you submit a contribution, the school is notified and "will accept or reject the volunteers' interest". An NGO registering enters its DARPAN ID and PAN, and the name and other details of the organisation linked to that DARPAN ID appear on screen.

"After request submission, respective school can view Contribution request and can make further call," the FAQ says, and the volunteer can see the status of the request. Until the school responds, what you have sent is an offer.

Schools come onto the portal through a process of their own. A school registers "through UDISE code", which fetches its details from the UDISE database, and sends its request to the Block Resource Centre, which approves or disapproves it. Approved schools receive an email to log in.

You are not limited to your own district. The About page says volunteers contribute to schools "of their choice pan-India". A student at college in one state can offer help to a school in a home town elsewhere, provided that school is registered and accepts.

How do NGOs and CSR organisations join?

An NGO joins with its NGO DARPAN Unique ID and a company with its registration documents, and the concerned State or Union Territory approves the registration. The Ministry of Education's Rajya Sabha reply of 5 August 2026 says NGOs are onboarded "through their NGO DARPAN Unique ID issued by NITI Aayog, which is verified through the DARPAN Portal". Central Public Sector Enterprises are approved at the central level.

CSR organisations, the same reply says, "are required to submit valid registration documents, such as PAN, GST Registration Certificate or Udyam Registration Certificate, for verification".

Companies have two ways to take part. Under the CSR Bulk Engagement framework, an organisation supports identified requirements across multiple schools. Under the Adopt-a-School Model, it gives sustained support to one identified school based on that school's specific requirements.

The DARPAN check is one a student can run too. The NGO DARPAN search page takes a DARPAN ID or an organisation's name, so before you join an NGO for school work you can see whether it is listed. For the other checks, see the guide on how to verify a genuine NGO.

How big is Vidyanjali so far?

The Minister of State for Education told the Rajya Sabha on 12 February 2026 that since its launch in September 2021, Vidyanjali "has onboarded nearly 8.5 lakh schools and more than 5 lakh volunteers across the country". The figure here follows the wording in the body of the PIB release carrying that reply.

Each release below counts something different over a different period. The figures belong to their own dates, so they cannot be added together or read as a single trend.

PIB release	Period covered	Figures as published
7 January 2024, year-end review	"During the year up to 1st January 2024"	6,84,147 schools onboarded; 4,46,898 volunteers registered; 6077832 students impacted
12 February 2026, Rajya Sabha reply	Since launch in September 2021	Nearly 8.5 lakh schools; more than 5 lakh volunteers; more than 56,734 service activities and 35,695 asset contributions completed, benefiting over 2 crore students
5 August 2026, Rajya Sabha written reply	"During the last one year"	1,27,884 schools, 32,581 volunteers and 1,126 CSR organisations/NGOs/institutions newly registered

The August 2026 reply names work from its period: AI and Robotics Innovation Labs in government schools in Delhi, digital classrooms and teacher capacity building in Dholpur, Rajasthan, digital infrastructure in Mamit, Mizoram, desktop computers for government schools in Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh, and BaLA painting in government schools in Begusarai, Bihar.

The February 2026 reply also says how progress is monitored. States review progress through dashboards, and schools validate volunteer contributions.

How is it different from a school service requirement or an internship?

Vidyanjali is unpaid volunteering that you offer and a school accepts, while an internship is work a host organisation assigns. The warning shown across the Vidyanjali portal, including on its Badge Info page, reads: "Vidyanjali is strictly a volunteer engagement platform and does not offer any jobs, employment, or paid opportunities. Any such claims are false and fraudulent."

In an internship, a host organisation takes you on and assigns the work. For how the two are treated in law, read the legal difference between volunteering and an internship.

Vidyanjali is also separate from service hours a school board asks of its own pupils. School students completing a service requirement have a separate framework; see how CBSE sewa works.

If you want Vidyanjali work to count toward a college course or NSS, ask your department before you start, because credit is the college's decision. Other options are in the guide to community service for college students. Keep your own record of dates, the school and what you did. The FAQ says that on completion of an activity, both schools and volunteers are prompted to share and view feedback and rating.

The portal also recognises volunteers. Its Badge Info page lists six badges by the number of activities completed: White for 5, Bronze for 10, Silver for 15, Gold for 20, Platinum for 25 and Diamond for 30.

The volunteer user manual on the portal's Documents page says a volunteer's dashboard shows the badge level, and that a completed activity has a Download button for a certificate of participation. The Vidyanjali guidelines add that a school may also give a volunteer a certificate acknowledging or appreciating the contribution. The same guidelines say such a certificate cannot be claimed as an experience certificate, so present it as volunteering.