Selection process conducted from Mantralaya under supervision of Chief Minister and senior officials; over 38,000 applications received for 21,975 seats
TFP Bureau, Raipur, April 15, 2026: The School Education Department of the Chhattisgarh government on Tuesday released the selection list for admissions to private schools under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE) through an online lottery system. A total of 14,403 students were selected for admission during the draw conducted at the Chief Minister’s Chamber in Mantralaya (Mahanadi Bhawan).
The lottery process was carried out in the presence of Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai and senior officials to ensure transparency and fairness in the admission process. Education authorities said the online lottery was conducted strictly according to the schedule set by the state government.
The event was attended by Technical Education Minister Guru Khushwant Saheb, School Education Secretary Siddharth Komal Pardeshi, Deputy Director of Public Instruction Ashok Narayan Banjara, RTE In-charge Mahesh Nayak and other senior officers of the education department.
Officials said the admissions process witnessed significant participation from parents across the state. This year, a total of 38,439 applications were received for 21,975 seats reserved for economically weaker sections and disadvantaged groups in private schools under the provisions of the RTE Act.
After scrutiny of the applications, 27,203 were found eligible while 11,236 applications were declared ineligible due to discrepancies or failure to meet the eligibility criteria. From the pool of eligible candidates, 14,403 students were selected through the computerised lottery system.
Authorities clarified that the figure does not include seats reserved for Chief Minister’s DAV Schools. Admissions to those institutions will be conducted through a separate offline lottery at the district level, and the details will later be uploaded on the state’s RTE portal.
The district-wise data shows that the highest number of students selected under the scheme were from Raipur, where 2,606 children secured admission through the lottery. Bilaspur recorded 1,509 selected students, followed by Durg with 1,059 selections.
Other districts included Korba with 534 selected students, Rajnandgaon with 480, Baloda Bazar-Bhatapara with 457, and Janjgir-Champa with 500. Mungeli recorded 702 selections, while Jashpur had 543 and Raigarh 544 students selected through the lottery system.
In several other districts, the numbers included 367 selections in Kawardha, 354 in Dhamtari, 798 in Balrampur, 315 in Bemetara, 347 in Sakti, 258 in Sarangarh-Bilaigarh, 244 in Mahasamund, and 471 in Kanker. Additional selections included 353 in Balod, 195 in Khairagarh-Chhuikhadan-Gandai, 427 in Surajpur, and 273 in Surguja.
Smaller districts also recorded selections, including 193 students in Gariaband, 179 in Koriya, 135 in Bastar, 206 in Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi, and 112 in Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur. Kondagaon had 101 students selected, while Narayanpur and Dantewada each had 35 selections. Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki recorded 48 selections, Sukma nine, and Bijapur 14 students.
Education department officials noted that despite the large number of applicants, several reserved seats in some private schools remain vacant. The primary reason is that many schools are not chosen by applicants as their preferred option during the application process.
In several cases, schools listed as second or third preference by applicants also remain unfilled because students often secure admission in their first-choice institutions through the lottery. As a result, schools that do not appear in the preference list of applicants are left with vacant seats.
The state government has emphasised that the entire admission process has been carried out in a transparent and systematic manner using digital platforms. Authorities said that information regarding the filling of the remaining vacant seats and the schedule for the next phase of admissions, including district-level offline lotteries for certain schools, will be made available through the official RTE portal in the coming days.
