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The Union government on Friday, May 23, told the Madras High Court that the release of funds to Tamil Nadu under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan cannot be completed unless the state signs a memorandum of understanding (MoU) agreeing to implement the PM Shri Scheme under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The Additional Solicitor General (ASG) ARL Sundaresan made this submission on behalf of the Union government in a petition filed by V Eswaran of Coimbatore seeking a direction to commence admissions for the upcoming academic year as per the Right to Education (RTE) Act. The ASG said that since the state had not signed the MoU, the Union government had not released its share of 60% under the scheme. He also added that the state had also not paid its own share of 40%.
The vacation bench of justices GR Swaminathan and V Lakshminarayanan asked the ASG if the MoU could be signed excluding the three language policy and NEP implementation, to which the ASG responded that a reply could be given only after discussing with concerned departments.
Additional Advocate General (AAG) J Ravindran, appearing for the state government, said that the Union government was displaying a “big brother attitude” by saying that funds would be released only if the MoU is signed.
The Tamil Nadu government had, on Tuesday, May 20, filed a petition before the Supreme Court regarding the release of educational funds under the scheme to the tune of Rs 2151.59.
“Linking the state's entitlement to receive funds under the Samagra Shiksha Scheme to the implementation of NEP 2020 and the PM Shri Schools Scheme is unconstitutional, illegal, arbitrary, and unreasonable”, the state had said in its plea.
The petition was filed by the Standing Counsel for Tamil Nadu, Sabarish Subramaniam, under Article 131 (original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court in disputes between states and the Union) of the Constitution.
In the plea, the state submitted that the non- allowance of funds affected a total of 43,94,906 students, 2,21,817 teachers, and 32,701 staff members. The Union Ministry of Education's disclosure in Parliament that Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan funds for FY 2024-25 were disbursed to all states except Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Kerala highlights discrimination, the state argued.