Centre reduces aid under SSA

Amaninder Pal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 28

Sticking to the position it had taken last year, the Union Government has committed to Punjab only Rs 315 crore this fiscal under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) compared to Rs 1,139 crore, as estimated by the Centre’s Project Approval Board (PAB) to keep the project afloat.

Given the fact that the monthly salary bill of the SSA teachers alone was around Rs 42-45 crore, the amount committed by the Centre is insufficient even to pay the salaries round the year.

The PAB of the Ministry of Human Resources and Development (MHRD), which vets and finally allocates budget to each state for the SSA, clearly conveys that the state should “meet the balance amount from its own sources”.

The PAB had estimated the annual work plan and budget (AWP&B) for 2017-18 at Rs 1139.1 crore for Punjab. Apart from Rs 315 crore committed by the Centre, the state would contribute a matching share of Rs 210 crore on 60:40 pattern. However, it has been left upon the state to bridge the gap from its own resources.

“As per section 7 (5) of the RTE Act, 2009, the state government shall provide the balance funds necessary to fulfil the estimate for the implementation of the Act. It is recommended that the state should meet this balance amount from its own sources,” reads the minutes of the PAB meeting that finalised the budget for the state.

The state has been told that it can arrange money from the additional funds at state’s hand after increase in states’ share in central taxes following recommendation of the 14th Finance Commission last year.

Pertinently, this was the same logic on the basis of which MHRD had restricted the central share last year also months prior to state Assembly elections. Left with no other options, the state government had paid salaries of SSA staff on its own.

Dismal grant

Given the fact that the monthly salary bill of the SSA teachers alone is around Rs 42-45 crore, the amount committed by the Centre is insufficient even to pay the salaries round the year.