From Policy to Practice: Analyzing India's Educational Inclusion Framework through NEP 2020 and Allied Schemes

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The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 is a policy through which the government has focused on bringing Indian education in line with global standards, while at the same time keeping inclusive education at its core. This paper focuses on how NEP 2020 can be made more successful by examining the role of additional government schemes that support its implementation, including the PM Internship Scheme, ULLAS, the Vidyalakshmi Scheme, One Nation One Subscription, PM-SETU, Samagra Shiksha, PM SHRI, PM POSHAN, PRERNA, PM JANMAN, and PRAKASH. Using a qualitative content analysis approach, the paper examines these schemes to identify how far they contribute to NEP 2020's goal of inclusion, and to what extent gaps still remain in their implementation. The analysis finds that despite the existence of these schemes, several issues persist, including unequal awareness among students, differences in infrastructure across states, and coordination gaps between central and state agencies. The paper concludes that the government needs to take further action to strengthen the reach of these schemes particularly ensuring that complete and accurate information reaches ordinary students, who are often unaware of the benefits available to them. It also emphasizes the need for increased funding to support these initiatives, so that the government's vision of inclusive education can be more fully realized. The paper argues that closing these gaps in awareness, infrastructure, and coordination is essential for NEP 2020 to achieve its intended impact on the ground.