THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In what could be a restart of the Centre-state tussle over fund disbursement in the education sector, the new plan fund proposals under the Samagra Shiksha Scheme only provide monetary support to states for projects under the National Education Policy (NEP), according to officials with the education department.
“New provisions in the Samagra Shiksha Scheme mean that states will get funds only for projects that completely adhere to NEP. Earmarking funds under other heads has not been mentioned either. This will lead to a situation where we will be forced to make an in-principle agreement with NEP,” a top source with the education department told TNIE.
With the model code of conduct for the assembly elections in effect, officials are yet to take a final call on how to apply for the funds. Notably, the state has been critical of NEP over its “attempts to push RSS narrative”, as mentioned earlier by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
“An independent decision can be taken only after the new government is formed on May 4. Be it an LDF or UDF-led government, it will have to take a strong stand on the National Education Policy at such a crucial juncture,” General Education Minister V Sivankutty said.
However, officials pointed out that the deadline to apply for funds will be by the end of this month.
“Though some of the norms mentioned in the new mandate to obtain funds are already being implemented in the state, technical and administrative obstructions are likely to affect us. For example, pre-school education funds should now be applied in the ‘Balvatika’ format, in which students from pre-school to Class 1 are grouped under the same head.
Since Kerala does not follow this NEP format, we cannot apply for the 60% Central share for our work,” the official added, hinting at how such issues could lead the state to succumb to the Union government’s pressure.
Though a sum of Rs 92.41 crore was allocated to Samagra Shiksha Kerala as the first instalment after having signed a memorandum of understanding with the Centre in the PM SHRI scheme, pending amounts — over Rs 1,100 crore — have not been disbursed.
An additional sum of Rs 6.86 crore was also granted a few months ago as reimbursement for distributing textbooks and uniforms.
This story has been written by Aswin Asok Kumar.
