TN moves SC against Centre withholding funds over not implementing NEP; seeks release of ₹2291 crore
It may be recalled that TNIE first broke the news on April 13 that the Tamil Nadu government would approach the apex court to seek the release of SS funds, having exhausted all other options while the Union government remained unrelenting—despite a strong recommendation by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education in March for the immediate release of the funds.
According to the petition, the reason for the non-disbursement of funds is the GoI's decision to link the release of SS funds to the implementation of a separate centrally-sponsored scheme—PM SHRI—which aims to establish exemplary model schools in States that showcase the implementation of NEP 2020, including the three-language formula. The Tamil Nadu government has been vehemently opposed to this.
'The Defendant (GoI), by withholding the Plaintiff's (Tamil Nadu State government's) entitlement to receive funds under the Samagra Shiksha Scheme, ignores the doctrine of cooperative federalism. It constitutes an attempt to usurp the constitutional powers of the Plaintiff State to legislate under Entry 25, List III, and seeks to coerce and force the Plaintiff State to implement the NEP 2020 throughout the State and to deviate from the education regime currently followed,' the Tamil Nadu government stated in its petition.
The State government has also sought a declaration that the NEP 2020 and the PM SHRI scheme are not binding on the State unless and until a formal agreement is entered into between the State and the Union for their implementation within Tamil Nadu.
Among other reliefs, the State has asked the apex court to declare the Union government's action—linking Tamil Nadu's entitlement to receive SS scheme funds to the implementation of NEP 2020 and PM SHRI—as 'unconstitutional, illegal, arbitrary, and unreasonable.' It also seeks a declaration that the Ministry of Education's letters dated February 23 and March 7, 2024, in this regard are 'illegal, null, void ab initio,' and not binding on the State.
In addition to the release of funds with interest, the State has further sought a direction to the GoI to 'continue complying with and performing its statutory obligations' by paying Tamil Nadu the grants-in-aid required for the implementation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009—including, but not limited to, the Union's 60% share of expenditure—in accordance with the law, before the commencement of every academic year and within a time frame fixed by the Supreme Court.
(With inputs from Chennai )
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