Tamil Nadu CM urges PM Modi to expedite release of pending grants under Samagra Shiksha scheme

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to personally intervene to expedite the process of releasing pending grants under the Samagra Shiksha scheme - an overreaching programme for school education. Drawing the prime minister's attention to reports that the first instalment under the Samagra Shiksha has not been released for Tamil Nadu and a few other states, he said the timely release of funds for this Centrally sponsored scheme was of the utmost importance.

In a letter addressed to Modi, Stalin said every year, funds were released subject to the sanction of the Project Approval Board (PAB) for ongoing programmes, for payment of salaries to teachers and new initiatives intended to improve the quality and outcomes of education.

"Accordingly, for 2024-25, an allocation of Rs 3,586 crore was made for the state, out of which the Union Government's share is Rs 2,152 crore (60 per cent)," he said. Though the proposals were submitted in April 2024 itself, the release of the first instalment of Rs 573 crore was overdue. Also, the Centre was yet to release Rs 249 crore due for the previous year.

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'Delay in disbursal of funds will impact millions'

The current move of the Government of India to withhold funds under SS scheme will severely impact the education of millions of children from disadvantaged backgrounds and the teaching fraternity directly and it went against the stated objective of SS scheme, which was 'no child should be denied the opportunity for education' he said in the letter.

"Lately, it has been noticed that the Union Government is attempting to link the complete implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) in PM Shri Schools as a prerequisite for sanctioning funds under the ongoing SS scheme," he said. Funds were released to states that have entered into MoUs and it was well known that Tamil Nadu has significant reservations about specific provisions in the NEP 2020.

"The request of the state to make a minimal modification to the MoU to align itself to PM Shri Schools has not yet been accepted. As you are aware, progressive states, like Tamil Nadu, have pioneered and implemented many path-breaking schemes and programmes in both school and higher education," Stalin said.

Further, due to the regional differences in socio-economic conditions, infrastructure, resources, etc., it was imperative that states have a fair say in implementing policies affecting children in matters pertaining to education which is placed in the concurrent list of the Constitution of India, he said.