Madras High Court on RTE Funds and NEP Dispute

• The Madras High Court has directed the Union Ministry of Education to consider splitting the disbursal of funds under the Samagra Shiksha Scheme (SSS) for Tamil Nadu.

Key Issue:

• ₹2,151.59 crore is pending from the Centre to Tamil Nadu under SSS.

• Out of this, ₹200 crore pertains to RTE reimbursements to private schools.

• The Centre has delayed fund release due to Tamil Nadu's non-implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

Court's Observations:

• RTE Act obligations are independent of NEP 2020.

• Section 7 of the RTE Act (2009) makes both Centre and States concurrently responsible for funding RTE implementation.

• Therefore, the RTE component should not be linked to NEP adoption.