"Operation Blackboard" was proposed under the

Correct option is A

Operation Blackboard was a centrally sponsored scheme launched in 1987 as a direct outcome of the National Policy on Education (1986) to supply minimal essential physical and educational facilities to primary schools across India.
Information Booster:
· Genesis and Launch: The National Policy on Education (NPE 1986) recognized severe infrastructural deficiencies in primary schools and proposed Operation Blackboard, which was officially launched in 1987–1988 to revamp primary education facilities nationwide.
· Three Minimum Essential Components: The scheme mandated three core provisions for every primary school:
· Classrooms: At least two reasonably large, all-weather rooms.
· Teaching-Learning Equipment: Essential learning materials including blackboards, maps, charts, globes, science kits, toys, and mathematics kits.
· Teaching Staff: At least two teachers, with a specific mandate that one of them should be a woman teacher.
· Focus on Primary Education: The main objective was to drastically reduce school dropout rates, improve retention, and create an engaging learning environment to achieve Universalization of Primary Education (UPE).
· Expansion over Time: Later expanded during the Ninth Five-Year Plan (1997–2002) to cover upper primary schools before eventually merging into the comprehensive Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) in 2002.
Additional Knowledge:
· Secondary Education Commission (1952-53): Popularly known as the Mudaliar Commission, this committee focused exclusively on reorganizing secondary education, introducing multi-purpose schools, three-year secondary and four-year higher secondary systems, and improving teacher training—long before Operation Blackboard was conceptualized.
· Kothari Education Commission (1964-66): Known as the National Education Commission, it recommended the standardized 10+2+3 structure, spending 6% of GDP on education, and promoting the Three-Language Formula; however, it did not formulate the specific Operation Blackboard scheme.
· National Policy on Education (1968): Formulated under the premiership of Indira Gandhi based on the Kothari Commission's recommendations, this was India's first national policy on education. It stressed free and compulsory education up to age 14 and the development of regional languages, but predated the creation of Operation Blackboard by nearly two decades.