Chennai: Expressing deep concern over the recent remarks of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan that ‘Samagra Shiksha’ funds would not be released to Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister M K Stalin urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene in the matter in the interest of cooperative federalism and the welfare of lakhs of students and teachers. In a letter to Modi on Thursday, Stalin said Pradhan’s insistence on the State implementing the ‘National Education Policy (NEP) – 2020’ in toto and adopting the three-language policy had created immense anxiety and unrest among students, political parties and the general public. Reiterating that linking two different Centrally Sponsored Schemes – SSA and the NEP exemplar PM SHRI Schools – was fundamentally unacceptable, he said the Union Government’s usage of such fund releases as a pressure tactic to coerce a State into adopting centrally mandated programs against its own time-tested State policies was a blatant violation of cooperative federalism. Such pressure tactics would grossly undermine the States’ rights to shape their own education policies, based on a State’s specific needs, he said. Pointing out that the non-release of funds under the ongoing scheme, several vital components towards teacher salaries, student welfare programmes, inclusive education initiatives, RTE reimbursements for underprivileged students and transport for students in remote areas had been jeopardized, he urged Modi to intervene in the interest of cooperative federalism and welfare of lakhs of students and teachers. ‘To dissipate the unrest caused due to this issue, Rs 2,152 crore of Samagra Shiksha funds for Tamil Nadu for 2024-25 may be released immediately, without linking it to the implementation of NEP 2020. Considering the sensitivity of the issue, I look forward to your personal intervention in this regard,’ the Chief Minister said. Tamil Nadu had been steadfast in its two-language policy, which was deeply rooted in its educational and social milieu for decades and the State had been exempted from implementing “The Official Languages Act, 1963”, as mentioned in The Official Languages Rules, 1976, which would clearly exemplify that any change in the two-language policy was non-negotiable to the State and the people, Stalin pointed out. ‘In addition to this, the State has also raised its strong concerns on other specific provisions of National Education Policy, 2020. These concerns were formally communicated in my letter dated 27.08.2024 and a detailed memorandum was personally submitted to you on 27.09.2024. However, despite these multiple representations, the Samagra Shiksha funds for 2024-25 remain unreleased,’ he said.
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