Stalin maintains TN position against NEP; urges delinking SS from NEP
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting to expedite the release of pending grants under the Samagra Shiksha (SS) scheme. He cited reports that the first installment of funds under the Samagra Shiksha has not been released for Tamil Nadu and a few other States.
In his letter, the CM said it has been noticed that the Union government was 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 and funds have been released to States that have entered into MoUs.
“It is 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,” Mr. Stalin said in his letter. A copy of the letter was shared with the media.
In his letter, Mr. Stalin said Samagra Shiksha was the primary centrally sponsored scheme in the country’s education sector and therefore, the timely release of funds was of utmost importance. Every year, funds are 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 ₹3,586 crore was made for the State, out of which the Union Government’s share is ₹2,152 crore (60%). The release of the first instalment of Rs.573 crore is overdue, though the proposals were submitted in April 2024 itself. Besides this, the Union Government is yet to release ₹249 crore due for the previous year.
“In the past, I had written to the Union Minister of Education to ensure the release of funds to the State and only after this a portion of the pending funds were released last financial year. A delegation of Members of Parliament from Tamil Nadu had met the Union Minister in July and represented for the timely release of grants. However, there has been no release of grant to the State under SS so far,” Mr. Stalin said.
Tamil Nadu has pioneered and implemented many path-breaking schemes and programmes in both school and higher education, he said and further contended: “Further, due to the regional differences in socio-economic conditions, infrastructure, resources, etc., it is 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.”
The current move of the Government of India to withhold funds under SS would “severely impact the education of millions of children from disadvantaged backgrounds and the teaching fraternity directly and goes against the stated objective of SS, which is ‘No child should be denied the opportunity for education’,” Mr. Stalin pointed out.
The CM further requested the PM to personally intervene to expedite the release of pending grants under SS scheme and delink the release of funds from an issue that required further deliberations.
