PM eVIDYA 2026 — free digital education for Class 1-12

Last reviewed: 26 August 2026. Components cross-checked against the Ministry of Education and NCERT-CIET.

Launched in 2020 as part of the pandemic response and continued since, PM eVIDYA ties the Ministry's digital-education pieces into one programme so that a student with a phone, a TV or a radio can keep learning. It is run through the Ministry of Education, with the Central Institute of Educational Technology — CIET, part of NCERT — producing the school-channel content.

The name gets misused constantly: fake apps, paid “enrolment” sites and tutoring outfits borrowing the brand. Every genuine component below is free and reachable without paying anyone.

1. DIKSHA — diksha.gov.in and the DIKSHA app. School content for Classes 1 to 12 in multiple Indian languages, QR-code-linked “energised textbooks” that pull up chapter videos on a scan, teacher resources. States run their own DIKSHA tenants, so content matches your state board.
2. One Class, One Channel — the PM eVIDYA TV channels. About 200 DTH channels carry class-wise lessons, broadcast free-to-air through the SWAYAM Prabha platform on DD Free Dish and other DTH services. Class 1 to 12 each gets dedicated channel space, produced by CIET-NCERT.
3. SWAYAM and SWAYAM Prabha — SWAYAM hosts courses from school to university level; SWAYAM Prabha is the DTH transmission that carries the class channels. A set-top box on DD Free Dish receives them without subscription.
4. IIT-PAL — lectures by IIT faculty for JEE and NEET preparation, free, on its own channels and online.
5. e-Content for Children With Special Needs — audio books, sign-language videos and accessible digital books for children with disabilities. This is the special-needs arm of PM eVIDYA.
6. NIOS digital content — the National Institute of Open Schooling's senior-secondary material, free online.

One correction that matters: older write-ups call the special-needs component “PRABHA for the differently-abled”. That mixes two things — Prabha is the DTH transmission; the special-needs component is e-Content for CWSN. If a guide tells a parent of a deaf child to “get PRABHA”, point them to the e-Content library instead.

1. With a smartphone: install DIKSHA, choose your state and class, and use the textbook QR codes.
2. With a TV: on DD Free Dish or a DTH connection, tune to the class channel in the SWAYAM Prabha band — schedules are published online by CIET.
3. With nothing but a radio: CIET and the states run school lessons on radio and community stations — ask the district education office for the local timetable.
4. For exam aspirants: IIT-PAL online, free, no coaching fee.

1. A school pushes paid apps “instead of” DIKSHA — that is a local choice, not policy.
2. Content for your class or language is missing or broken on DIKSHA.
3. A child with special needs cannot access any adapted material in your district.
4. A “PM eVIDYA registration” desk asks for money — it is not the government.

For each of these, the paper trail starts with the district education office and ends well with an RTI.

To, The Public Information Officer,
Office of the District Education Officer / CIET-NCERT

Under §6(1), RTI Act 2005, please provide:
1. Details of PM eVIDYA / DIKSHA content available for Class __ in [language], and the agency responsible for it.
2. Action taken on my complaint dated ____ regarding ____.
3. The schedule of e-Content for children with special needs circulated to schools in this district this year.
4. Funds allocated and utilised for digital education in this district this financial year.
5. The monitoring mechanism for the TV-channel lessons and its latest report.

₹10 IPO enclosed.
[Name, address, signature, date]

1. **Class teacher and principal** — most access problems stop here.
2. **District Education Officer** in writing, with a copy to the school.
3. **CPGRAMS** — a grievance to the Ministry of Education on [[https://pgportal.gov.in|pgportal.gov.in]] carries the 21-day redress norm.
4. **RTI** to the district office or CIET — 30 days, statutory.
5. For a child with disabilities denied accessible material, the **State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities** can act on a simple complaint.

Real example. Dr. Shrawan Kumar Pathak's district school told parents of a hearing-impaired boy that “TV channels are all PM eVIDYA has”. An RTI to the district office for the e-Content-for-CWSN circulation records returned a sign-language content list the school had never shared — and the boy's mother began downloading the audio-visual lessons the same month.

Yes — every component: DIKSHA, the TV channels, IIT-PAL, the special-needs content. Anyone charging a fee is not the programme.

Around 200 DTH channels under PM eVIDYA's one-class-one-channel expansion, carried on SWAYAM Prabha.

DIKSHA, on Google Play and the App Store, plus the DIKSHA website diksha.gov.in.

e-Content for CWSN — audio books, sign-language videos and accessible texts within PM eVIDYA.

Yes — class-wise content aligned to NCERT and state boards, plus IIT-PAL for JEE and NEET.

• DIKSHA — Ministry of Education school-education platform
• NCERT-CIET — PM eVIDYA class channels and e-Content for CWSN
• CPGRAMS — Ministry of Education grievance route

• Mid-day meal not served — file one RTI
• CPGRAMS grievance stuck — escalate with RTI
• Government exams — guides and RTI
• The RTI Playbook