Navodaya Vidyalayas  were set up with the objective of providing  good quality modern education to talented children particularly from rural areas.  At least 75% of the seats in a district are filled by candidates selected from rural areas.  Reservation  for  SC and ST students is in proportion to their population, subject to a minimum of national average of these  categories.

2,53,931 students were on the rolls of Navodaya Vidyalayas at the end of the Academic  Session 2016-17. The percentage of students belonging to SC/ST categories, in the Navodaya Vidyalayas is well above the national norms (15% SC & 7.5% ST).  Thus the JNVs are serving rural students, specially girls, SC & ST students in excess of national average. This has also been appreciated by the Standing Committee of Parliament on Ministry of Human  Resource Development.