Kerala Accuses Centre of Withholding Over 1,160 Crore rupees in Samagra Shiksha Funds

Thiruvananthapuram: The Centre is targeting Kerala by withholding funds that should have been allocated for the education of students who are differently abled. Under centrally sponsored schemes through the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, 27,833.50 crore rupees was distributed nationwide for 2024–25. Kerala did not receive even a single rupee. For the previous financial year alone, Kerala was supposed to get 428.89 crore rupees. Including the last two instalments of 2023–24, the Centre has unjustly withheld a total of 1,160.52 crore rupees.

For 2025–26, 452.05 crore rupees had been sanctioned, of which only 92.41 crore rupees reached the state following the intervention of the Supreme Court. The Centre continues to pressure Kerala to implement the National Education Policy—which allegedly pushes an RSS agenda. The reply given by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in the Rajya Sabha recently clearly reflects the Centre’s political discrimination against Kerala.

Under the Samagra Shiksha Kerala (SSK) project, 60% of the funding is the Centre’s share and 40% is the state’s portion. Since the Centre has blocked its share, the responsibility of paying SSK employees now falls entirely on the state government. Around 20 crore rupees is being spent every month on salaries alone. The state is also bearing the full cost of student uniforms, textbooks, hostels, and related expenses.

Free uniforms, free textbooks, grants for differently abled children, stipends for girl students, girls’ empowerment initiatives, residential hostel activities, teacher education programs, and salaries for specialist teachers, special educators, and educational volunteers—all these are now under threat due to the Centre’s actions.