Chennai, Aug 27 (Reporter) Observing that the Centre's move to withhold funds under the “Samagra Shiksha” (SS) scheme will severely impact the education of millions of children from disadvantaged backgrounds and the teaching fraternity directly, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Tuesday evening urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to expedite the release of pending grants under SS scheme. He also sought delinking the release of funds to the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) in toto, an issue that required further deliberations. In a Demi-Official letter to Modi, copies of which were released to the media, he said withholding funds goes against the stated objective of SS, which is "No child should be denied the opportunity for education". Mr Stalin also urged Mr Modi to personally intervene to expedite the release of pending grants under SS scheme and delink the release of funds from an issue that requires further deliberations. Mr Stalin drew the Prime Minister's attention on reports that the first instalment funds under the SS scheme have not been released for Tamil Nadu and a few other states. Pointing out that the SS is the primary centrally sponsored scheme in the country's education sector and therefore, the timely release of funds is of utmost importance, the Chief Minister said every year, funds are released subject to the sanction of the Project Approval Board (PAB) for ongoing programmes, for payment of salaries to teachers and new initiatives intended to improve the quality and outcomes of education. "Accordingly, for 2024-25, an allocation of Rs.3,586 crore was made for the State, out of which the Union Government's share is Rs.2,152 crore (60%). The release of the first instalment of Rs.573 crore is overdue, though the proposals were submitted in April 2024 itself", he said. Besides this, the Union Government is yet to release Rs.249 crore due for the previous year, he said. He recalled that he written to the Union Minister of Education to ensure release of funds to the State and only after this a portion of the pending funds were released last financial year. A delegation of Members of Parliament from Tamil Nadu had met the Union Minister in July and represented for the timely release of grants. However, there has been no release of grant to the State under SS scheme so far. "Lately, it has been noticed that the Union Government is attempting to link the complete implementation of the NEP in PM Shri Schools as a prerequisite for sanctioning funds under the ongoing SS scheme, the Chief Minister said...////...