The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : SSA State unit to get Rs.267.78 crore more

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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

SSA State unit to get Rs.267.78 crore more

Meera Srinivasan

Rs.267.21 crore for implementing Right To Education Act

CHENNAI: The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) wing of the State School Education Department will receive Rs.267.78 crore for its supplementary annual work plan and budget for 2010-11.

The sanction, approved by the MHRD recently, is in addition to the Rs.1,211.63 crore allocated for 2010-11.

According to senior SSA officials, Rs.267.21 crore of the total amount sanctioned would be directed exclusively for implementing the Right To Education (RTE) Act that came into effect on April 1, 2010. The remaining nearly Rs.57 lakh would be invested in Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) in the State. The decision to sanction the additional sum comes in the context of the RTE Act.

In early 2010, the MHRD undertook an exercise in which it analysed the SSA in the context of the Act. It constituted a committee to consider the issue of harmonising the SSA vision, strategies and norms with the RTE mandate.

Following discussions on how the SSA could help implement the RTE Act, the State government prepared a budget and sent it to the MHRD. The approved budget lays emphasis on infrastructure. Of the Rs.267.21 crore, a major chunk amounting to Rs.228.32 crore will go towards civil works, including building additional classrooms, head teachers' rooms, separate toilets for girls, and drinking water facility in schools.

“The SSA is now being seen as a vehicle to have the RTE Act implemented in States. The SSA's expertise and existing networks in elementary education will come in handy,” said a senior official.

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