Centre's Financial Obligation Under RTE Can't Be Contingent On State's NEP 2020 Compliance: HC
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While the state government admitted there was a delay, it blamed the Centre's failure to release its share of funds
The Madras High Court recently observed that the Central Government's financial obligations under the Right to Education (RTE) Act cannot be contingent on a state's alignment with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The court said that the Central Government must disburse funds for Right to Education (RTE) implementation without linking them to the state's acceptance of the NEP 2020.
A public interest litigation was filed before the high court by V Eswaran, who highlighted delays in initiating RTE admissions for the academic year 2025-26 in Tamil Nadu. The court was informed that no applications had been invited under the 25% RTE quota even by mid-May, dangerously close to the start of the academic session.
While the State Government admitted there was a delay, it blamed the Centre's failure to release its share of funds. The State said it had single-handedly borne the Rs 188.99 crore RTE reimbursement bill for 2022-23 and had now approached the Supreme Court seeking over Rs 2,150 crore as part of the Centre's 60% share under the Samagra Shiksha Scheme (SSS).
However, a division bench of Justices GR Swaminathan and V. Lakshminarayanan made it clear that such disputes could not be cited to defer constitutional obligations.
The court stressed that 'the State Government has a non-derogable obligation to reimburse private unaided schools". It also emphasised that 'non-receipt of funds from the Union Government cannot be cited as a reason to wriggle out of this statutory obligation".
Accordingly, it directed Tamil Nadu to adhere strictly to statutory timelines for admission and reimbursements under RTE, and called for rational, rule-based disbursement aligned with Section 12(2) of the RTE Act and Rule 9 of the Tamil Nadu RTE Rules.
On the other hand, the Centre, through the Additional Solicitor General, submitted that Tamil Nadu's non-implementation of NEP 2020 created hurdles in disbursing funds linked to SSS. But the high court rejected the linkage between NEP implementation and the RTE entitlements, observing that obligations under the RTE Act exist independently.
'Section 7 of the Act states that the Central Government and the State Governments have concurrent responsibility for providing funds for carrying out the provisions of the Act…Therefore, funds payable to the State Government representing the Central
The government's share towards discharging the RTE obligations need not be linked to NEP 2020," the court said.
While refraining from issuing binding directions due to the pending Supreme Court suit, the high court urged the Centre to consider separating the RTE entitlement from the broader SSS framework.
'We call upon the Central Government to discharge its obligations under the Act. It is true that implementation of the Samagra Shiksha Scheme is aligned to NEP 2020. But then, obligation under RTE Act is independent by itself," the bench observed.
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