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| Rs 44 cr lost as education scheme for JK's deprived classes remains in limbo | | GoI's quality schools project in backward areas remains distant dream | | Early Times Report
jammu, Mar 25: The failure of the education department in Jammu and Kashmir to utilize amounts received from the Government of India (GoI) for the establishment of Model Schools at block level has resulted in depriving quality education to the intended beneficiaries and non-utilization of total available funds of Rs 44.13 crore.
Official documents in possession of Early Times reveal that the Jammu and Kashmir Government's contribution of Rs 5.74 crore and interest accrued included in the available fund of Rs 44.13 crore was also blocked for ten years.
The grant-in-aid of Rs 25.82 crore (90 percent) of the first installment was released in the month of February 2010 and then State Government released Rs 2.87 crore in June 2010 to State Project Director (SPD) Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). The entire amount, as per the documents, of Rs 29.23 crore (Central Share: Rs 25.82 crore; State Share: Rs 2.87 crore and interest: Rs 0.54 crore) was transferred in December 2010 and kept at the disposal of State Project Director, Samagra Shiksha, J&K Noor Society. Further, the State Government released an additional State share of Rs 2.87 crore in January 2011.
Documents reveal further that the grants-in-aid of Rs 25.82 crore and State share of Rs 5.74 crore were parked in the saving bank account of J&K Noor Society. Even after a lapse of ten years, the Government has not taken adequate initiative for the implementation of the scheme in the erstwhile State.
Department of School Education and Literacy (DSEL), Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India (GoI) launched a scheme in November 2008 with the objective of having at least one good quality secondary school (Model School) in every Educationally Backward Block (EBB). The scheme was to be implemented from 2009-10 onwards. As the State of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) was a special category State, the funding pattern through Grant-in-aid for implementation of the scheme was 90:10 for GoI and Government of Jammu and Kashmir respectively.
The Jammu and Kashmir government submitted proposals in November 2009 to the Grant-in-aid Committee (GIAC) of DSEL, MHRD, GoI for setting up of 24 (17 new schools and conversion of seven existing schools) for Educationally Backward Blocks. During its third meeting in November 2009 the Grant-in-aid Committee observed that the projected unit cost of Rs 6.18 crore was higher than the scheme norm of Rs 3.02 crore per Model School and therefore, the State Government was required to either revise the estimate or to meet the extra financial burden. In the same meeting, the representative from the State of J&K informed the GIAC that the estimates will be revised so as to bring it within the scheme norms. The Grant-in-aid Committee thereby recommended 19 new model schools in November 2009 to be set up in the former State.
Later on, no relevant details of the revised proposals were provided on the grounds that the Directorate of Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) remained submerged in devastating floods in the Valley in the month of September 2014 for a period of more than 25 days and most of the records in hard copy were destroyed. Subsequently, GoI, in February 2015 delinked the scheme from GoI support. |
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