In an effort to build thousands of schools nationwide, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated the Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) initiative in Odisha on Sunday. According to Pradhan, the program would be introduced at 63 institutions managed by the Center in the state’s first phase, out of 97 Central Schools and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas.
In order to carry out the program, the Center had requested that all states and Union Territories sign Memorandums of Understanding with the Ministry of Education’s Department of School Education and Literacy. But the Odisha government hasn’t done it yet.
The union minister said, “The state will implement the PM SHRI scheme with more than Rs 120 crore.”
The Center has approved Rs 50.8 crore for the state’s Center-run schools in 2023–2024; of that amount, Rs 12.7 crore have already been issued in the first installment.
A total of Rs 5.43 crore and Rs 7.27 crore were made available for 26 Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas and 37 central schools, respectively.
According to Pradhan, the Indian government gives over Rs 70,000 crore to different states annually for the advancement of the education sector; Odisha receives approximately Rs 4,200 crore annually via the PM Poshan and Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan programs.
The Union Minister expressed dissatisfaction over the PM SHRI scheme’s non-implementation in Odisha government-run schools, stating that the state government should take the lead in promoting kids’ academic growth.
“I have written three letters to Chief Minister Neveen Patnaik in the past year requesting the implementation of the PM SHRI scheme in Odisha schools.” “I humbly ask the CM to take this into consideration once more,” he stated.
On September 7, 2022, the Center announced the beginning of the PM SHRI program.
“I am certain that Odisha is not one of the few states that have chosen not to implement the plan due to political considerations. Odisha schools might have gotten Rs 1500 crore in funding from the Center if the program had been implemented in just two schools every block and municipality, according to Pradhan.
He had opened the Eastern Regional Language Center’s administrative, academic, and guest house buildings here earlier in the day.
