Annamalai accuses Minister Anbil Mahesh of mismanaging Rs 1,050 crore Samagra Shiksha fund

CHENNAI: State BJP president K Annamalai and School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamizhi have locked horns over the Centre’s Samagra Shiksha (SS) scheme funding. Even as the saffron party leader accused the DMK government of mismanaging Rs 1,050 crore SS funds, the Education Minister retorted by asking Annamalai to first bring Rs 2,150 crore from the Centre, and asked him to get informed before making allegations.

The SS scheme introduced by PM Narendra Modi in 2018-2019 with a foresight to provide equitable and quality education to all children has been mismanaged, the saffron party leader accused. “Despite receiving substantial funding from the Centre, the TN government has failed to implement the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) curriculum as a separate subject in schools,” Annamalai said in a statement.

“The central government had earmarked Rs 6.40 lakh for capital expenditure, Rs 15,000 for teachers’ salaries, and Rs 2.50 lakh for other expenses to establish ICT Labs in schools,” he noted.

The BJP leader contended that, in contrast to other states like Delhi, Telangana, and Rajasthan, where ICT has been incorporated as a distinct subject in the curriculum from Class VI onwards, Tamil Nadu has merely subsumed it within the science subject. “This has undermined the scheme’s primary objective of nurturing ICT skills in students from an early age,” Annamalai argued.

He demanded that Minister Anbil Mahesh provide a detailed account of the expenditures, specifying the number of schools with functional ICT Labs and the rationale behind the decision to integrate ICT into the science curriculum.

“The people of Tamil Nadu deserve transparency and accountability in the utilisation of funds meant for education,” Annamalai emphasised. “We urge the Minister to clarify these discrepancies and ensure that the Samagra Shiksha scheme is implemented in its true spirit,” he added.

Meanwhile, Anbil Mahesh hit back the State BJP president over the allegation. The School Education Minister urged K Annamalai to persuade the Union government to release Rs 2,150 crore funds rightfully approved to Tamil Nadu under the Integrated School Education scheme.

Speaking to the media in Chennai, minister Anbil Mahesh said, “Annamalai has been blind to the unfair approach of his party at the Centre acting against Tamils and against the welfare of nearly 40 lakh students.” The minister pointed out that though Annamalai frequently visits Delhi to resolve his own issues, but had not once addressed the concerns faced by the State due to withholding of funds.

“Since the formation of the Integrated School Education Scheme in 2018, the Union government is bound to release 60 per cent of funds (Rs 2,150 crore) of the Rs 3,533 crore approved by the board. But, in 2023, the Ministry of Education ordered us to accept the PM SHRI scheme to get funds under Samagra Shiksha (SS), which is unfair,” stated the minister.

He further clarified that SS and PM SHRI are different schemes, and the Union government forcing TN to accept the latter to release funds is unjust. Further, responding to the claims made by Annamalai on the usage of Rs 44,000 crore, which is the budget allocation for the TN education department, the minister said, “I request Annamalai to file Right to information (RTI) application to get details on the expenditure and to employ a team to verify facts before placing allegations and writing posts on social media.”