Eight non-BJP ruled states yet to sign up for PM SHRI

PM SHRI is a centrally sponsored scheme that was launched on September 7, 2020, to upgrade 14,500 schools at a cost of Rs 27,360 crores over a period of five years under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, writes ETV Bharat's Gautam Debroy.

New Delhi:As many as eight non-BJP ruled states have still not signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Department of School Education & Literacy (DoSE&L) to implement the PM SHRI Schools scheme (PM Schools for Rising India) under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Sources in the government to ETV Bharat that to date, 30 States and UTs including Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) and Navodaya Vidyalaya Sangathan (NVS) have signed the MoU and have started the selection process.

PM SHRI is a centrally sponsored scheme that was launched on September 7, 2020, to upgrade 14,500 schools at a cost of Rs 27,360 crores over a period of five years under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. As many as eight States and UTs including Bihar, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have not signed the MoU with DoSE&L.

The States and UTs were requested to sign the MoU with DoSE&L, laying down the commitments to implement NEP 2020, sources said. "Till January 30, 2023, out of 1,79,908 benchmark schools from 30 States and UTs including KVS and NVS, 1,65,381 schools have applied for PM SHRI schools, in which, 1,00,384 schools have been verified by the district and 5,932 schools have been verified at the States and UTs level," sources said.

Under the PM SHRI, the beneficiaries will be provided with a high-quality education in an equitable, inclusive and joyful school environment that takes care of the diverse background, multilingual needs, and different academic abilities of children and makes them active participants in their own learning process as per the vision of NEP 2020.

Under the budget estimate (BE) of 2023-24, a sum of Rs 4000 crore has been sanctioned under PM SHRI scheme. "Under the scheme, there is a provision of setting up of more than 4,500 PM SHRI schools by strengthening the existing schools from amongst schools managed by central government, States, UTs, and local bodies," sources said.

The duration of the scheme is proposed to be from 2022-23 to 2026-27, after which it shall be the responsibility of the States and UTs to continue to maintain the benchmarks achieved by these schools. "More than 20 lakh students are expected to be the direct beneficiaries of the scheme," sources said. The total cost of the project will be Rs 27,360 crore spread over a period of five years which includes central share of Rs 18,128 crore.