Punjab starts process to rename 233 schools with PM SHRI prefix
After the Punjab government’s refusal to implement the PM-SHRI project, a series of letters were also exchanged between Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan
3 min read
The Samagra Shiksha, country's flagship programme for school education, is the lifeline scheme which covers basic expenses of government schools across the country from pre-school to class XII. (Representational Photo)Punjab has finally set the ball rolling to prefix Pradhan Mantri-Schools for Rising India (PM-SHRI) in the name of 233 government schools, more than two months after a political logjam over issue between the BJP-led Centre and AAP-led dispensation in state ended. Punjab’s Education Secretary Kamal Kishore Yadav issued a letter in this regard Monday.
A senior official from Punjab education department said that in the first phase, 233 schools have been selected by the Centre for upgradation under the PM-SHRI project, which aims to showcase and implement “National Education Policy (NEP), 2020”.
“We are now awaiting the first instalment of grants from the Centre to start the work. The selected schools will also be directed to change the names on the boards outside the school premises once funds are received,” he said.
For instance, the Government Senior Secondary School (GSSS), Balluana in Abohar block of Fazilka district, would now be renamed as “PM SHRI GSSS, Balluana.”
According to the Centre’s blueprint for the project, “The PM-SHRI, with an overall budget of over Rs 27,000 crore for the next five years (60:40 ratio of Centre/State), aims to upgrade at least 14,500 government existing schools across the country as “green schools”, where the National Education Policy,2020 (NEP) would be followed in “true spirit”, and students will be rooted to the heritage of India and values of Bharat, Indian languages, unity in diversity and ‘Ek Bharat Shreshth Bharat’.”
A political slugfest between the Centre and the AAP-led Punjab government had ensued for months after the latter had refused to participate in the project, and consequently the Centre had blocked Punjab’s Samagra Shiksha funds amounting to over Rs 500 crore. The funds were, however, resumed after the Punjab government “reconsidered” its decision and agreed to implement PM-SHRI in the state.
After the Punjab government’s refusal to implement the PM-SHRI project, a series of letters were also exchanged between Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan. While Mann sent a reminder to Pradhan regarding the state’s withheld Samagra Shiksha grants, the latter had written to Mann asserting that Punjab cannot back out from the project after signing the initial Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The matter was finally resolved earlier in July after Punjab wrote to Centre that it had “reconsidered its earlier decision” and was ready to implement the project in the state.
The Samagra Shiksha, country’s flagship programme for school education, is the lifeline scheme which covers basic expenses of government schools across the country from pre-school to class XII, including salaries of teachers, construction of new classrooms, uniforms, books etc, in 60:40 ratio (60 per cent being the Centre share). In absence of a central share, it becomes nearly impossible for the state government to run the school education system smoothly and several works get stuck on the ground.
During the political impasse over PM-SHRI , Punjab education minister Harjot Singh Bains had told The Indian Express that Punjab had opted out of PM SHRI as the state was already having its own “Schools of Eminence” and “Schools of Happiness” projects. He however had also admitted that Punjab won’t be able to pay salaries to its teachers for long if the central share of Samagra Shiksha funds was blocked.
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