CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin announced that the state will move the Supreme Court against the centre for withholding funds of Rs 2,152 crore meant for Tamil Nadu for the year 2024-25 under the Samagra Shiksha scheme.
He expressed hope for a favourable verdict, similar to the one secured last month in Tamil Nadu’s case against the governor. He also vowed to intensify the fight to restore education to the State List in the Constitution.
Speaking at the launch of the book ‘National Education Policy–2020: The Rogue Elephant’ (Matha Yaanai), authored by School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, at the Anna Centenary Library in Chennai on Saturday, the CM accused the union government of withholding educational funds for “petty political” reasons.
The parliamentary committee on education, chaired by Congress leader and MP Digvijaya Singh, who also took part in the event, had objected to the withholding of funds and recommended the union government to release them immediately, the CM, who released the book, pointed out.
The union government had said that the funds will be released only if the Tamil Nadu government signs a Memorandum of Understanding to implement another centrally-sponsored PM SHRI scheme to develop model schools, which mandated the implementation of National Education Policy (NEP), including the three-language formula. TN has refused to sign, stating that it would not be implementing the NEP, especially the three-language formula.
Referring to a recent statement by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Stalin said, “Amit Shah stated that Sanskrit will be promoted through the NEP. His remarks confirm what we have long feared, that the policy is a deliberate attempt to undermine Tamil and other languages.” He further stated,
“The only way to put an end to this is by bringing education back to the State List. We must intensify our struggle. The union government is overriding the will of the states by imposing decisions on curriculum and the medium of instruction.”
Singh said the NEP-2020 violated several provisions of the Constitution. He also pointed out that unlike previous education policies, the NEP-2020 was not discussed in Parliament before its adoption. Retired Supreme Court judge Justice Gopala Gowda said the NEP disregards constitutional and cultural values, as well as the principle of social justice. He described the NEP as a Trojan horse for imposing Hindi.
Former Isro Director Mylswamy Annadurai said, “If textbooks are centrally written, then merely translated and sent to the states, I worry about the consequences. The accuracy and context could be seriously compromised.”
Earlier, Anbil Mahesh presented an elephant goad to the CM, symbolising that he could tame the “rogue elephant”.