Drumil Modi, Pune
Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) has a budget of over 27,000 crores for the next five years. As per the scheme, 60% of the financial burden for upgrading government schools will be provided by the center, and 40%will be funded by the state government.
Delhi, Punjab, and West Bengal stopped receiving financial aid from the Centre due to their unwillingness to add “Pradhan Mantri School for Rising India (PM-SHRI)” in their names. Delhi, Punjab, and West Bengal have not received financial aid in the last three quarters (October – December, January – March and April – June). The states have sent several letters to the Education Ministry to resume their financial aid.
According to the Government sources Delhi awaits approximately Rs 300 crore, Punjab is awaiting nearly Rs 515 crore and West Bengal is awaiting over Rs 1,000 in the last three quarters. The states have not received any formal reply to their letters to the Education Ministry. A senior official stated, “States will not receive funds under the SSA scheme if they do not implement PM-SHRI in the names.”
West Bengal does not want to prefix “PM-SHRI” as the state bears 40 percent of the cost. Delhi and Punjab ruled by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) refuse to prefix “PM-SHRI” as they have a similar scheme for Proof-of-concept schools called “Schools of Eminence.”
Since July 2023 several letters have been exchanged between the Punjab government and the Centre. One of the letters was written by Dharmendra Pradhan the Union Education Minister to Bhagwant Mann CM of Punjab, convincing the state government to take part in the project. On March 15, Punjab officially declined to take part in the project as their schemes were already being implemented “Schools of Eminence”, “School of Brilliance” and “School of Happiness” which aligns with their state policy.
On the 1st of April Delhi, officials showed their concern as to how they were unable to provide salaries to their staff, textbooks and uniforms to the kids, and special support for differently abled children. They hope that the Center will release funds soon for the welfare of the society.