)
Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvam has sought personal intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure the Union ministry of human resources development (HRD) strictly adheres to the provisions of the Right To Education (RTE) Act, and had suggested bringing suitable changes in the current Sarva Siksha Abhiyan framework to bring it in line with the provisions of the Act.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, he said, "I request your personal intervention to ensure the provisions of the RTE Act are strictly adhered to by the HRD ministry and the reimbursement of expenditure incurred by schools in Tamil Nadu amounting to Rs 97.04 crore is reimbursed urgently."
"I also request you to kindly direct the HRD ministry to ensure suitable changes are made in the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan framework to bring it in line with the provisions of the RTE Act, and also remove uncertainty surrounding the educational prospects of children belonging to weaker sections and disadvantaged groups, who seek to benefit from the provisions of the Act," he added.
Also Read
The 'Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act', which came into force in April, 2010, requires all unaided private schools to admit children in class I or in pre-school. Children belonging to weaker sections and disadvantaged groups should constitute at least 25 per cent of the strength of the particular class.
The Act also provides for reimbursement of expenditure incurred by unaided private schools on children admitted in the 25 percent reservation category based on the per-child expenditure incurred by the state or the actual amount charged from the child, whichever is lesser.
As per the Act, the central and the state governments shall have 'concurrent' responsibility for carrying out the provisions of the Act, and the Centre shall prepare annual estimates of the capital and recurring expenditure for carrying out the provisions of the Act. It further adds the Centre shall hold consultations with states and determine the percentage of expenditure which it shall provide to the state governments as grants-in-aid of revenues for the implementation of the Act.
In Tamil Nadu, 49,864 children were admitted in 2013-14 and 86,729 children in 2014-15, under this. Private schools had submitted their claims for reimbursement to the Tamil Nadu government amounting to Rs 25.13 crore in 2013-14 and Rs 71.91 crore in 2014-15.
The state government said the state project director of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan wrote to the Union HRD ministry on October 18, 2013, for reimbursement of Rs 25.13 crore for 2013-14, but there hasn't been any response so far.
"Based on these unilateral and arbitrary amendments to the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan framework, the claim of Rs 25.13 crore submitted by the Tamil Nadu government for 2013-14 has not been admitted," the chief minister said.
In this context, amendments to the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan framework made by the Union ministry were not just in contravention of the provisions of the Act, but also severely handicap children belonging to weaker sections and disadvantaged groups, he added.
He alleged the previous government at the Centre was not serious about implementing the RTE Act in its letter and spirit. "If the Union HRD ministry does not change its obdurate stance, it could place in jeopardy the future of 136,593 children admitted during 2013-14 and 2014-15," Panneerselvam said.
