Lok Sabha Question No. 2666 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-17
Subject: Withholding of Funds of  Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan for Tamil Nadu
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Shri S Venkatesan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO - 2666

## ANSWERED ON 17/03/2025

## Withholding of Funds of Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan for Tamil Nadu

2666. Shri S Venkatesan:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  has  withheld  the  funds  of  Rs.  2154  crore  under  Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) which is due to Tamil Nadu;
- (b) the reasons for linking the release of above fund with the implementation of NEP in the State;
- (c)  whether  imposition  of  Hindi  as  part  of  NEP  is  violation  the  language  policy acknowledging language diversity evolved in the background of Anti Hindi Agitation in Tamil Nadu;
- (d) whether the above imposition is the violation of Federal principles while Education is in the concurrent list; and
- (e) if so, the details and the reasons thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY)

(a)&(b):The Union Government is committed to ensuring that every child, in every corner of the country has access to the transformative benefits of the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020). Samagra Shiksha is an integrated scheme that envisages education as a continuum from pre-school to class XII. The Scheme has been aligned with the provisions of NEP 2020 and new interventions such as Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), Support  for  NIPUN  Bharat,  Quality  and  Innovation  at  all  levels,  Equity  and  Inclusion, Skill  Education,  ICT  and  Digital  Initiatives  etc.  have  been  incorporated  in  the  Scheme.

Since inception,  tens  of  lakhs  of  students  from  the  State  of Tamil  Nadu  are  benefitting from the provisions of this Scheme. Regarding the release of funds to the state of Tamil Nadu  under  Samagra  Shiksha,  all  four  sanctioned  instalments  for  the  year  2023-24 amounting to Rs.1876.15 crore were released. Further, an amount of Rs.4305.66 crore has been approved for the state of Tamil Nadu by the Project Approval Board (PAB) for the financial year 2024-25.

(c)  to  (e):  The    National  Education  Policy  (NEP),  2020  emphasizes  that  wherever possible, the medium of instruction until at least Grade 5, but preferably till Grade 8 and beyond,  will  be  the  home  language/mother  tongue/local  language/regional  language. Therefore, NEP 2020 fully supports the idea of teaching Tamil in the schools of Tamil Nadu. Further,  respecting  the    federal  principles,    NEP  2020  affirms  that  the  threelanguage formula will continue to be implemented while keeping in mind the Constitutional provisions, aspirations of the people, regions, and the Union, and the need to promote multilingualism as well as promote national unity. However, there will be a greater flexibility in the three-language formula, and no language will be imposed on any State. The three languages learned by children will be the choices of States, regions, and of course the students themselves, so long as at least two of the three languages are native to India. In particular, students who wish to change one or more of the three languages they are studying may do so in Grade 6 or 7, as long as they are able to demonstrate basic proficiency in three languages (including one language of India at the literature level) by the end of secondary school.

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