Sarva Siksha funds slashed 30% for 11th Plan period

The Planning Commission has slashed funds for sarva siksha abhiyan (SSA) and mid-day meal (MDM) by almost 30% for the 11th Plan period. The Commission is ready to allocate Rs 71,000 crore for the SSA as against the human resource development (HRD) ministry?s demand for Rs 98,187 crore during the current Plan period.

The allocation towards the scheme was Rs 17,000 crore in the 10th Plan and the expenditure was Rs 28,077 crore.

Interestingly, the government itself has felt that introduction of the SSA has resulted in dilution of the very concept of school and the entire schooling process. It has also been found that the quality of education imparted under the scheme has not been up to the mark.

For the MDM, too, the Commission has slashed funds by 22.40% to Rs 48,000 crore against the HRD ministry?s demand for Rs 61,858 crore.

The Commission has finalised a total of Rs 2,77,837 crore for the education sector during the 11th Plan. Focus areas of the government, higher education and technical education would get Rs 6,36,67 crore and Rs 2,36,34 crore respectively.

The Commission and the finance ministry are re-working the funding pattern for the SSA following a request from HRD minister Arjun Singh.

?There is not much disagreement on the funding pattern for the programme anymore. We are working on it,? Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said, adding that the new pattern would be a sliding scale with the state share of the funds increasing over the next five years.

The funding pattern for the current fiscal and the next would be at 65:35 ratio. The Centre will contribute 65% of funding requirements, while the states will have to account for 35%.

In the third year of the 11th Plan (2009-10), the funding pattern would change to 60:40 ?with the Centre?s share at 60%. In 2010-11, fourth year of the Plan, the pattern will change to 55:45, thereby increasing the state component of the funding for SSA. It is in the final year of the 11th Plan period (2011-12), that the funding will be equally done by the Centre and states at 50:50.