Govt allocates Rs 1037.90 crore to New India Literacy Programme for next 5 years: MoE

NEW DELHI: The Government has allocated a total financial outlay of Rs 1037.90 crore for the five year New India Literacy Programme (NILP). The centrally sponsored scheme for implementation during five years from 2022-23 to 2026-27 was announced in February this year.

The programme aims to cover a target of 5 crore learners during the five years under the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy component.

“The total financial outlay of NILP for five years (FYs 2022-23 to 2026-27) is Rs 1037.90 crore, out of which Rs 700 crore is Central share and Rs 337.90 crore is state share. The Central and state shares are in the ratio of 60:40 for all states other than North Eastern Region (NER) and Himalayan states where the sharing pattern between the Centre and the State is in the ratio of 90:10,”minister of state for education, Annpurna Devi in a written reply in the Lok Sabha said.

The major challenge faced by the Government while implementing the NILP scheme presently is the opening and mapping of all bank accounts of Single Nodal Agencies (SNAs) and Implementing Agencies (IAs) in all states with Public Financial Management System (PFMS), the education ministry said.

The fund flow will be done through PFMS and state treasuries. Therefore, it is a prerequisite for release of funds as per revised procedure guidelines of the finance ministry. The challenge exists because this is the first year of implementation, Annpurna Devi said.

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The ministry said that all states and UTs have been sensitized through communication dated March 11, 2022, alongwith a roadmap for implementation of the programme. As the NILP has commenced from the current financial year 2022-23, therefore, the funds allocated or utilized for the said programme during the last three years are not applicable, it said.

More than RS 208 crore (Rs 208.96,42,893) has been allocated to states and UTs for New India Literacy Programme during the current year, 2022-23.

While announcing the scheme, the ministry said that it aims to educate non-literates above the age of 15 years with foundational literacy, numeracy, critical life skills to provide continuing education opportunities. The term “adult education” was replaced with “education for all” by the ministry in February as the former does not include all above age 15.