The Education Ministry has restricted the deployment of funds under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) to West Bengal, Punjab, and Delhi because they failed to participate in the Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India (PM-SHRI) scheme. The SSA scheme is the flagship school education program of the Centre to revamp the government schools.
The five states, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Delhi, Punjab, and West Bengal are yet to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Education Ministry, affirming their participation. Out of these, Tamil Nadu and Kerala have expressed their willingness to sign the same, but West Bengal, Punjab, and Delhi have refused expecting no funds from the Centre under the SSA scheme.
SSA scheme and PM-SHRI part of same program
The SSA scheme holds a budget of INR 27,000 crore for the next five years, aiming to upgrade 14,500 government schools to ‘exemplar institutions’ with the centre bearing 60% of the financial burden and the state 40%. This scheme is a step ahead in enforcing the New Education Policy, 2020.
States are supposed to sign the MoU as an affirmation and participation in the scheme. Delhi and Punjab, run by the AAP government have refused to implement the PM- SHRI program as they run a very similar exemplar school scheme under the name “Schools of Eminence”.
As a result of this, they have stopped receiving the SSA funds. West Bengal on the other hand, has refused to prefix PM-SHRI names to the schools as the state is bearing 40% of the financial burden.
Non-deployment of funds by the Centre
The state government officials are still awaiting funds, with Delhi around INR 330 crore, Punjab close to INR 515 crore, and West Bengal over Rs 1,000 crore for the three quarters. Several letters have been exchanged between the centre and the state regarding the same.
The third and fourth instalments of SSA funds for the last financial year’s October-December and January-March quarters and the first instalment for the current financial year’s April-June quarter have not been received by the three states. The Education Ministry has stopped responding to the letters as they claim that states cannot continue to receive funds under SSA and not implement the PM-SHRI scheme, which is a part of the program.
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Punjab yet to decide on implementation
Initially, Punjab opted to implement the PM-SHRI and also signed the MoU on October 22, regarding the same. It later backed out, writing to the centre on March 9. “Punjab has unilaterally opted out of the PM-SHRI scheme, contrary to the terms stipulated in the signed MoU”, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan wrote to Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann.
Punjab’s education secretary, Kamal Kishor Yadav, On March 15, parallelly communicated to the centre about Punjab implementing its own “Schools of Eminence”, “Schools of Brilliance” and “Schools of Happiness”, which would be aligned with NEP.
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Financial crunch on state level
The financial crunch in the state due to the non-deployment of Centre funds is affecting the completion of activities, like payment of salaries and so on. “Currently there is no balance in the Single Nodal Account of Samagra Shiksha due to which payments for some activities are pending, including employees’ salaries”, Yadav wrote to his Central Government counterpart Sanjay Kumar.
About the Author
Ms Anuja Choudhary is a public policy enthusiast and Master in Philosophy from LSR, DU. With a keen eye for authenticity, she is currently honing her craft as a writer to pen down the voices with utmost sincerity and integrity.
