Latest news with #SamagraShikshaScheme
Time of India
5 days ago
- General
- Time of India
Schools reopen on high note in Kolhapur, dy CM visits ZP school
Kolhapur: After a long summer break, schools across the region reopened on Monday with a festive atmosphere. Students were greeted with aarti, flower petals, chocolates, sweets, and schooling essentials. Several schools also organized welcome rallies using decorated bullock carts and tractor trolleys. The corridors were adorned with rangolis, balloons, and music, creating a celebratory mood for the new academic year. In Satara, deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde visited the Zilla Parishad (ZP) school at Kodoli village, where he interacted with students and handed out red roses and chocolates. "Learn with full concentration, take part in sports and other activities. Create a proper balance between studies and sports," he told the students. Shinde was accompanied by MLA Mahesh Shinde and other administrative officials. Under the Samagra Shiksha Scheme, an integrated education initiative, free textbooks were distributed to students in ZP, municipal, govt, and private-aided schools. Kolhapur district alone houses 1,958 ZP schools with 1.52 lakh students. The Kolhapur Municipal Corporation (KMC) runs 58 schools with 10,500 students, while 1,061 private schools cater to over 3.62 lakh students. Sandip Patil, a teacher at a private school in Rajarampuri, said, "The preparations for school reopening started right from June 1 onwards for teachers. The students were welcomed to school on Monday morning by offering roses, sweets, and educational kits comprising a book, notebooks, and pen, pencil. Flower petals were showered over the first standard students as the seniors played musical instruments to welcome them. " Dhawal Sawant, a class seven student, said, "Meeting my school friends once again after a gap of two months was the most interesting thing on the first day of school."
India Today
13-06-2025
- Politics
- India Today
A linga fracas over Hindi
Late in May, the Tamil Nadu government took the unprecedented step of moving the Supreme Court, seeking the disbursal of over Rs 2,000 crore in funds under the Samagra Shiksha Scheme (SSS), claiming the Union government had withheld it in a bid to coerce the state into implementing the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020. Tamil Nadu has been vociferously opposing the NEP's three-language formula and the tacit pro-Hindi tilt ascribed to it.
Hindustan Times
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Reimburse pvt schools under RTE, HC tells TN, asks Centre to consider de-linking it from SSS
Chennai, The Madras High Court has asked the Tamil Nadu government to make reimbursement to private unaided schools under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, besides directing the Centre to consider de-linking the RTE component of Samagra Shiksha Scheme and disburse the funds accordingly. A division bench comprising Justices G R Swaminathan and V Lakshminarayanan gave the directive on Monday, while disposing of a Public Interest Litigation filed by V Eswaran, which sought a direction to the authorities to initiate the admission process for the academic year 2024-25. During the course of hearing, Additional Advocate General J Ravindran submitted that the responsibility of reimbursement has to be shared between the Central and the State governments. Unfortunately, the State has not been paid its legitimate dues and as a result, it was not able to reimburse the school managements in time, he added. He said that due to non-release of funds by the Union government, the expenditure towards RTE reimbursement to the schools under Section 12 of the Act to the tune of ₹188.99 crore for the year 2022-23 was borne in entirety by the Government of Tamil Nadu. He sought a direction against the Union Government to pay a sum of ₹2151.59 crore being its 60 per cent share towards Samagra Shiksha Scheme as approved by Project Approval Board for the financial year 2024-25. Additional solicitor general A R L Sundaresan, while reiterating the Union Government's commitment to ensuring that every child has access to education, submitted that Samagra Shiksha Scheme was an integrated scheme that envisages education as a continuum from pre-school to class 12, and that the scheme was aligned with the provisions of NEP 2020. Since the State Government has not agreed to implement NEP 2020, there were issues regarding disbursement of funds, he added. In its order, the bench said a careful reading of the statutory provisions in the light of the various precedents leads it to the irresistible conclusion that the State Government was obliged to commence the admission process under the RTE Act well in time so that the children admitted under this quota were able to join the respective neighbourhood schools at the very commencement of the academic year. The state government has the primary responsibility under Section 7 of the Act to be responsible to provide funds for the implementation of the provisions of the Act. "Therefore, the State Government is directed to make reimbursements by adhering to the timeline laid down in the statute. The quantum of reimbursement cannot be arbitrary. It has to be as per Section 12 of the Act r/w. Rule 9 of the Tamil Nadu Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules, 2011. The State Government has a non-derogable obligation to reimburse private unaided schools. Non-receipt of funds from the Union Government cannot be cited as a reason to wriggle out of this statutory obligation", the bench added. Having issued the aforesaid directions to the State government, the bench called upon the Central Government to discharge its obligations under the Act. It was true that implementation of the Samagra Shiksha Scheme was aligned to NEP 2020. But then, obligation under the RTE Act was independent by itself. Section 7 of the Act states that the Central Government and the State Governments have concurrent responsibility for providing funds for carrying out the provisions of the Act. Section 7 of the Act mandates that the Central Government shall provide to the State Government as grant-in-aid of revenues such percentage of expenditure referred in sub-section 2 as it may determine from time to time in consultation of the State Governments, the bench added. "Therefore, funds payable to the State Government representing the Central Government's share towards discharging the RTE obligations need not be linked to NEP 2020. Since the State Government had already filed a suit before the Supreme Court, we are not in a position to issue any binding direction in this regard." "The total sum for the financial year 2024-25 towards SSS is ₹3585.99 crore. The share of the Central Government is said to be ₹2151.59 crore. The RTE component must be less than ₹200 crores. There cannot be any difficulty in releasing the Central Government's share under this head. We, therefore, direct the Central Government to consider de-linking the RTE component of SSS and disburse the funds accordingly," the bench said.
Time of India
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Consider delinking RTE funds from Samagra Shiksha dues, says HC
Chennai: Madras high court has directed the Union govt to consider delinking Right to Education Act (RTE) component from Samagra Shiksha Scheme dues to Tamil Nadu govt and disburse the money for reimbursing private schools. A division bench of Justice G R Swaminathan and Justice V Lakshminarayanan passed the order on a plea moved by V Easwaran of Marumalarchi Iyakkam, based out of Coimbatore. "Duties under RTE Act are independent. Responsibilities such as fund allocation for implementing RTE Act lie with both Central and State govts. The Union must provide the specified percentage of funds to the State under the act," the bench said. According to petitioner, admissions under the RTE Act have not yet started this year due to non-payment of dues to private schools. In response, TN submitted that due to the non-allocation of funds by Union govt, the amount meant for private schools could not be provided. The state pointed out that although the central govt did not allocate the funds, it paid the private institutions from its own coffers between 2021 and 2023. The state further informed the high court that it has moved Supreme Court against the non-allocation of funds. The Union govt, on its part, informed the court that the funds were not released since the state failed to implement the new education policy.
Hindustan Times
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Apex court rejects plea filed by Tamil Nadu on education funds
The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a plea by the Tamil Nadu government seeking an urgent hearing in its suit against the Union government for allegedly withholding over ₹2,000 crore in funds under the Samagra Shiksha Scheme (SSS), citing what the state described as 'coercive tactics' by the Centre to force the state to implement the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. 'For how long has this fund not been given? What is the urgency now?' a bench of justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Manmohan asked senior advocate P Wilson, who mentioned the matter on behalf of the Tamil Nadu government, seeking an expedited listing. As Wilson flagged the constitutional right to free and compulsory education of nearly 4.8 million students in the state being adversely impacted, the bench remained unconvinced and declined the request: 'The plea is rejected.' The brief exchange took place during the Supreme Court's ongoing summer recess, now designated as a period of 'partial court working days' where only two to three benches sit and only matters of pressing urgency are usually considered, in addition to some old cases where both sides have given their consent to argue during the break. The regular functioning of the top court will resume on July 14. Filed under Article 131 of the Constitution, Tamil Nadu's suit accuses the Centre of linking its annual share under the SSS to the implementation of the NEP 2020 and the PM SHRI Schools Scheme -- a condition the state calls 'unconstitutional, arbitrary and coercive.' According to the suit, the Project Approval Board had approved a total outlay of ₹3,585.99 crore for Tamil Nadu under the SSS for the financial year 2024–25, of which ₹2,151.59 crore was to be the Centre's 60% share. The state claims this amount was not released solely because of its principled opposition to NEP 2020. Tamil Nadu, ruled by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), has been a vocal critic of the NEP, particularly its three-language formula, which the state believes undermines its two-language policy rooted in Tamil linguistic pride and regional identity. 'The Union Government seeks to coerce the State to implement the NEP-2020 throughout the State in its entirety and to deviate from the education regime followed in the State,' the suit submitted, while asserting that the SSS is a standalone scheme that should not be tied to compliance with any other olicy. The suit further alleged that the withholding of funds 'cripples the implementation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009,' directly impacting 4.39 million students, 2.2 lakh teachers, and over 32,000 school staff in the state. The state's legal team has argued that the Centre's move violates the spirit of cooperative federalism and amounts to an 'usurpation' of the state's constitutional powers to legislate on education, which falls under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List. Tamil Nadu has also urged the Supreme Court to declare that the implementation of the NEP and the PM SHRI Schools Scheme, which mandates full compliance with NEP, is not binding on the state. It has sought a direction to the Centre to immediately release ₹2,291 crore (including interest), claiming the delay is 'not only illegal but also violative of constitutional morality.' While the plea for an urgent hearing has now been declined, the main suit continues to be listed for regular hearing. The standoff comes amid a broader constitutional tussle between the Tamil Nadu government and the Union government. On April 8, the Supreme Court struck down Tamil Nadu governor RN Ravi's controversial move to reserve 10 re-enacted state bills for presidential assent, and the matter is now part of a presidential reference pending before the top court.
