Pradhan Links SSA Funds Release to Tamil Nadu’s Implementation of NEP
Union Education Minister says ₹2,152 crore under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan will be withheld until Tamil Nadu adopts the National Education Policy.
CHENNAI, Sept 22: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has made it clear that Tamil Nadu will receive the pending ₹2,152 crore under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) only after it agrees to implement the National Education Policy (NEP).
Speaking at the Dakshinapatha Summit organised by IIT-Madras and Think India, Pradhan accused the DMK-led state government of politicizing the NEP’s three-language policy. He said Tamil Nadu remains the only state resisting the NEP, while all others have signed the agreement.
“When Tamil Nadu School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi and DMK leader Kanimozhi met me in Delhi, I clearly told them that the State must implement the NEP to secure release of funds. I have also raised this issue in Parliament,” Pradhan recalled.
He argued that learning an additional language posed no threat, insisting that no state is being compelled to adopt Hindi. “What is wrong in learning another language?” he asked, adding that the DMK was imposing its political agenda on students.
Tamil Nadu has consistently opposed the three-language formula, viewing it as an attempt to impose Hindi and Sanskrit. Since 1968, the State has followed a two-language formula Tamil and English. The DMK government has instead introduced its own State Education Policy and is drafting a framework for higher education.
Meanwhile, the State has moved the Supreme Court to seek the release of the withheld SSA funds. Apart from the BJP, there is broad political consensus in Tamil Nadu against the NEP’s language provisions.
