Parliament Question: Zero Fund Allocation to Kerala under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 276 ANSWERED ON 02/02/2026 Zero Fund Allocation to Kerala under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan

276. Shri K Sudhakaran:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has withheld funds due to Kerala under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) scheme for the financial years 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26, if so, the details thereof;

(b) the legal justification for linking the release of funds under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (launched in 2018), which is aimed at fulfilling the Right to Education Act, to the signing of the PM-SHRI Memorandum of Understanding (launched in 2022); and

(c) whether the Government is aware that despite Kerala signing the PM-SHRI MoU in October, 2025 to secure these funds, only a nominal installment of Rs. 92.41 crore was released in November, 2025 following Supreme Court intervention, leaving a massive funding gap for 45 lakh students and if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY)

(a) to (c): Education is in the concurrent list of the Constitution and majority of the schools are under the domain of respective State and UT Governments. The Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Samagra Shiksha is implemented in partnership with all the States and UTs.

Financial assistance is provided to all States and UTs for various components for implementation of the interventions under Samagra Shiksha as per norms. Accordingly, the annual plans under Samagra Shiksha are prepared by the States and UTs based on their requirements and priority and this is reflected in their respective Annual Work Plan and Budget (AWP&B). These plans are then appraised and approved by Project Approval Board

(PAB) in consultation with the States and UTs as per the programmatic and financial norms of the scheme. Financial assistance under Samagra Shiksha is provided to all States and Union Territories for various interventions in accordance with the norms of the Scheme and the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Finance from time to time.

As per the Samagra Shiksha Scheme, there is no provision for carrying forward pending recurring activities from the previous financial year. However, pending non- recurring activities at the end of a financial year are allowed to be taken up in thesubsequent financial year as committed liabilities based on demands submitted by the concerned State/UTs.

The Central Share allocation and fund releases during the last three years is as follows: (Rs. in crore) Total Expenditure Central Share of the Actual Central Share Year including Central approved outlay Released and State Share 2023-24 328.83 141.06 431.14 2024-25 328.90 0.00 251.37 2025-26 452.04 92.41* 227.11 *As on 29.01.2026 The scheme of Samagra Shiksha has been aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The Centrally Sponsored Scheme of PM-SHRI envisages to showcase the implementation of the National Education Policy 2020 and emerge as exemplar schools over a period of time, and also offer leadership to other schools in the neighbourhood.

Kerala signed the MoU for PM SHRI in October, 2025. Kerala is yet to complete the process for school selection under PM SHRI Scheme.

An amount of Rs. 92.41 Crore has been released to the State of Kerala as 1st instalment during current financial year out of Central Share of Rs. 452.04 Crore allocated for FY 2025-26. The balance Central Share is released to the State subject to compliance with release criteria of the scheme and guidelines of Ministry of Finance issued from time to time.

Since, the State of Kerela is implementing Samagra Shiksha Scheme which has been aligned with NEP 2020, it would be appropriate that the States come forward to implement and showcase all the initiatives of NEP 2020 including under PM SHRI Scheme in order to develop government schools of the States as exemplar schools to facilitate best school education services. In fact, implementation of Samagra Shiksha Scheme is implementation of NEP 2020 and PM SHRI Schools are exemplar schools of NEP 2020.

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