Lok Sabha Question No. 276 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-02
Subject: Zero Fund Allocation to Kerala under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Shri K Sudhakaran

## 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  the

subsequent  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)

|   Year | Central Share of the approved outlay   |   Actual Central Share Released | Total Expenditure including Central and State Share   |
|--------|----------------------------------------|---------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|
| 328.83 | 141.06                                 |                          431.14 | 2023-24                                               |
| 328.9  | 0.00                                   |                          251.37 | 2024-25                                               |
| 452.04 | 92.41*                                 |                          227.11 | 2025-26                                               |

*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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