On Tuesday (June 10, 2025), the Madras High Court directed the Union Ministry of Education to consider splitting the disbursement of funds to the Tamil Nadu government under its flagship Samagra Shiksha scheme (SSS).
These funds would be used to reimburse private schools under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act.
The RTE component amounts to around Rs 200 crore, while the entire sum waiting for Tamil Nadu under the SSS amounts to Rs 2,151.59 crore, amid a controversy over the state's failure to adopt the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The court also informed the Tamil Nadu State government that the failure to get funding from the Centre could not be used as a "reason to wriggle out" of its commitment to pay private schools, The Hindu reports.
A Division Bench of Justices GR Swaminathan and V Lakshminarayanan observed that the Centre faced certain difficulties in providing SSS funding because the state government had not implemented the NEP.
However, the judges stated that it has an independent obligation under the RTE Act of 2009 that has nothing to do with the non-adoption of the NEP.
“Funds payable to the state government, representing the Central government’s share, towards discharging the RTE Act obligations need not be linked to NEP 2020,” the court said.
The bench, however, stated that it cannot issue binding orders because the TN government has already filed a complaint in the Supreme Court against the non-disbursement of funds under the Samagra Shiksha Scheme, reports The New Indian Express.
The Tamil Nadu government recently filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the union government for failing to pay its share of Rs 2,152 crore under the Samagra Shiksha scheme due to disagreements over the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding the implementation of PM SHRI, another centrally sponsored scheme, and the three-language formula, among other provisions of the NEP.
“Therefore, we direct the centre to consider delinking the RTE component from the Samagra Shiksha Scheme and disburse the funds,” the HC said.
Furthermore, the bench urged the state government to follow the schedule specified in the statute, as the volume of disbursement to schools cannot be arbitrary, but must be per Section 12 (2) of the Act and the TN Right to Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules.
