Zero Samagra Shiksha funds to Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu: Government

NEW DELHI: Till January 31, 2025, no funds at all have been disbursed to Kerala, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan – a shared scheme supporting public schools.

The minister of state for education, Jayant Chaudhary shared data on disbursement of the central share of the SSA funds with parliament on February 10.

The question was asked by Bharti Pardhi, MP from Madhya Pradesh representing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP); Dharmendra Yadav, MP from Samajwadi Party from Uttar Pradesh; and Shrirang Appa Chandu Barne, MP from Maharashtra’s Shiv Sena party.

This comes after the centre withheld more than Rs 953 crore of Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) funds in 2023-24 and 2024-25 from Kerala alone for not implementing PM SHRI scheme, Careers360 reported in December 2024. The scheme seeks to create model schools across the country.

PM SHRI: Samagra Shiksha as ‘tool'

Kerala’s general education minister, V Sivankutty has constantly stated that the government is using SSA funds as a “tool” to force states to implement the PM Shri scheme.

In December, the education ministry responded to a parliament question on lack of disbursement to state of tranches of SSA funds to West Bengal, stating that amongst all the 33 states and union territories, three states: Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal – all three opposition-ruled and with strong objections to the scheme – didn’t sign the PM SHRI agreements. Initially, Punjab had refused too but was strong-armed into agreeing due to fund shortage.

The Kerala government has been facing funding issues with the centre since 2023, previously related to PM POSHAN funds.

Incidentally, the PM SHRI has seen a significant increase in allocation in the union budget for education.