The Hindu : Steps towards universal elementary education

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 20, 2002

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National

Steps towards universal elementary education

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI FEB. 19. Apprehensive of cash-strapped States diverting money meant for the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry plans to approach the Cabinet for an amendment that would allow the funds to be sent directly to the implementing agency so that the programme for universalisation of elementary education progresses as per schedule.

Seeing the prescribed procedure for transfer of funds to the State Government as a potential bottleneck, the Ministry is now in favour of reverting back to the District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) model of funding where the money is transferred directly to the implementing agency in each State.

Despite the success of the DPEP model of funding, the Ministry had decided to send SSA funds to State Governments in view of the preference for such an arrangement expressed by them. Though State Education Secretaries prefer the DPEP model as money can then be disbursed within days of it reaching the State Implementation Society, State Governments wanted to be the routing authority as such remittances boost their budget. Apparently, the HRD Ministry gave in to their plea initially as allocation for DPEP is not factored in into the Central allocation to States.

Now with more and more States facing a financial crunch, the Ministry wants the money to be sent directly to the State Implementation Society to ensure that SSA is not derailed due to procedural delays. Since changing the "path of funding'' in the scheme would require the Cabinet approval, a note for such an amendment is being prepared for its perusal.

Apart from changing the path of funding, the note that will be put before the Cabinet would also include some aspects of the SSA that, according to officials, were there "in spirit but not in letter'' in the original scheme that was cleared by the Cabinet.

Another area of concern is the proviso that States will pick up part of the bill for implementing SSA; particularly as the State share will go up from 15 to 25 per cent with the onset of the X Five Year Plan.

As per the scheme, the Centre can release new instalments only after the previous instalments of both the Central and the State Government have been transferred to the State Implementation Society. Given the financial situation of most States today, there is a growing concern within the Ministry that SSA could fall prey to this technicality.

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