Parliament Question: Disruption in the Implementation of Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan in Maharashtra

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2482 ANSWERED ON - 03/08/2026 Disruption in the Implementation of Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan in Maharashtra 2482. Shri Arvind Ganpat Sawant: Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government is aware that the implementation of the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan has come to a standstill in Maharashtra, abruptly jeopardizing the livelihoods of nearly 3,800 skilled contractual employees (including engineers, coordinators and data entry operators), if so, the details thereof; (b) the specific reasons for the non-issuance of timely central directives, guidelines or financial approvals required for the renewal of contracts for these essential workers; and (c) the remedial measures being taken by the Government to urgently resolve this crisis so that critical grassroots educational operations—such as U-DISE+ data management, free textbook and uniform distribution and the tracking of out-of-school children—are not severely disrupted? A N S W E R MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY) (a) to (c): Education is in the concurrent list of the Constitution and the recruitment, service conditions, rules & regulations for engagement of teachers, cadre, remuneration and other benefits of Samagra Shiksha teachers/employees either on contract basis or on regular basis lies within the domain of respective State/UT Governments. Samagra Shiksha only provides lump sum (aggregate) support as per the programmatic and financial norms under the scheme and guiding principles laid down by the Ministry of Finance.The Department of School Education and Literacy is implementing centrally sponsored scheme for School education- Samagra Shiksha from 2018-19. With the formulation of the National Education Policy (NEP) on 29th July 2020, the Samagra Shiksha scheme was realigned to support States and Union Territories in achieving the goals of the NEP 2020 and extended from 2021-22 to 2025-26. Department of Expenditure has accorded in-principal extension till 30th September, 2026 or date of approval of the scheme for the 16th Finance Commission cycle, whichever is earlier. The same was communicated to the all the States and UTs and were advised to prepare and submit their annual plan accordingly. Under Samagra Shiksha, the Project Approval Board (PAB) in its meetings approves the Annual Work Plan & Budget (AWP&B) in consultation with the respective State/UTs on the basis of the proposals forwarded by the States/UTs, which includes various interventions such as construction of new and repair of classrooms of Schools. Funds are allocated to the State/UTs for implementation of the various interventions as per the approved AWP&B of the States/UTs. The expenditure of funds lies within the purview of the State/UT governments based on their requirement as per their priority. Further, the Central Government, through various forums, including Project Approval Board meetings, review meetings and PRABANDH portal regularly reviews and assesses the implementation of the scheme by the States and UTs and advises the States and UTs to implement various interventions under the scheme. *****