Chennai: Conveying her unequivocal protest to the “unilaterally” move by the Union human resources development ministry to further reduce the Government of India’s share of the funding for the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) from the present reduced level of 65 per cent, Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa said the scheme ought to be funded adequately by the Centre and that the Union Budget 2015-16 made this intent very clear.
She urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to immediately intervene in the matter and direct the HRD and finance ministries to ensure that the Government of India provides at least 75 per cent of the funding for the SSA and in the interim, immediately restore the sharing pattern for the SSA to at least the existing ratio of 65:35. “The sudden and unilateral decision to change the sharing pattern from 65:35 to 50:50 will jeopardise the implementation of SSA in Tamil Nadu, which is undoubtedly a national priority,” she said in a letter to the PM, a copy of which was released to the media here on Monday.
The HRD ministry in the meeting of the SSA project approval board for the year 2015-16 had approved a total outlay of Rs 2,329.15 crore in the Centre: State sharing pattern of 65:35 and had also requested the TN government to commit to provide 35 per cent of the plan outlay as its share. Based on this clear indication, appropriate provisions were made in the state’s budget for 2015-16 and the approved plan was put into operation from April, 2015, she said. The HRD ministry released an ad hoc grant of Rs 389.31 crore on May 15.
Subsequently, on September 1 an amount of Rs 162.78 crore was released to TN as the balance of the first installment, with a hand written correction requiring the state government to release its corresponding share of 50 per cent. Explaining further, the CM said on September 14 the HRD ministry wrote to the state governments indicating that the ministry of finance would release only 50 per cent of the outlay for the scheme as the central share, as against the originally committed 65 per cent, pending a final decision on the proposed modifications to the Centre-State funding pattern for centrally sponsored schemes consequent to the enhanced devolution of tax resources to states as per the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission. SSA, Ms Jayalalithaa said, is a very important scheme implementing the Right to Education Act, 2009, a Central legislation intended to achieve the national goal of Universal Elementary Education. Hence, the scheme ought to be funded adequately by the Government of India and the Union Budget 2015-16 made that intent very clear and “to go back on an assurance given in the Union Budget 2015-16 which has also been voted by Parliament, is improper,” she said.
