Bengal releases Rs 124.25 cr till Feb for school dev amid Centre’s fund freeze

Kolkata: The state Education department has released Rs 124.25 crore till February in the financial year 2024-25 for basic development work needed by the schools.

The fund release assumes significance in the backdrop of the Centre’s non disbursal of funds to the tune of Rs 3288.23 crores from the centre under Sarva Siksha Mission (SSM) since 2023-24. A major chunk of the SSM funds is utilised as composite grant.

In the year 2023-24, after releasing Rs 311.29 as first installment, the Centre has stopped releasing funds and in the ongoing 2024-25 fiscal, the release has been zero. The Centre’s commitment for both these years was Rs 1745.80 crore each.

“Under the instructions of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee we have released Rs 124.25 crores till February and not a single school that required such funds has been deprived,” said Bratya Basu, state Education minister.

The composite grant depends on the number of students in a particular school where number of students is between 1-30, the grant is Rs 10,000, where the number is between 31-100 it is Rs 25,000, where the number is between 101-250, the amount is Rs 50,000, where it is between 251-1000, the grant is Rs 75,000 while for schools having over 1000 students, the grant is Rs 1 lakh.

This money is utilised for purchase of school-related equipment, sports articles, repair and maintenance, electricity bill, repair of toilets etc. This grant is also utilised for cleanliness in schools on Republic Day, Independence Day etc.

According to sources in the state Education department, the Centre has not released funds under SSM on the ground that the state has not signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Union government on Prime Minister Shri scheme.

“In PM Shri scheme, the Central share is 60 per cent while the state’s share is 40 per cent. So why should it be christened as PM Shri? It will either be called PM-CM Shri or by any other name,” said a senior official of the state Education department said.