At a time when Jammu and Kashmir is facing the ‘worst’ - TopicsExpress



          

At a time when Jammu and Kashmir is facing the ‘worst’ financial crisis, the State government has decided to surrender central funds to the tune of Rs 6 crore in Education sector after failing to utilize them. The State’s School Education Department has agreed to return the amount to the Union Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) after sitting over their utilization for the past four years. The disclosure on refund has come to fore through a communiqué of MHRD bearing No. F. 20-3/ 2013-RMSA.1, dated September 2, 2013 . The communication was circulated among the higher- ups of the Union Ministry as well as the J&K’s School Education Department to apprise them about the decision taken at the Project Appraisal Board (PAB) meeting of the Rashtriya Madhyamik Siksha Abhiyan (RMSA) scheme for the State during the current fiscal. As per details, the State Government agreed to refund Rs 6.03 crores to the Government of India during the meeting held at Shastri Bhavan New Delhi in July this year. These funds were meant for implementation of much-needed centrally sponsored scheme titled ‘Information and Communication Technology (ICT)’ in 200 higher secondary schools of the State. “PAB was informed [that] till date 200 schools were covered under ICT @schools scheme against which Rs 603 lakh was released but the state couldn’t implement the scheme so far. Education Secretary, J&K informed that they are facing problems in implementing the same. It was then agreed by the State for cancellation of 200 schools approved in 2008-09 with refunding of unspent balance of Rs 603 lakh lying with the State,” the letter, copy of which is with GK, reads. The meeting among others was attended by Secretary, School Education & Literacy, MHRD, R Bhattachyra; Senior Adviser at Planning Commission of India, Dr C. Chandramohan and Secretary School Education, J&K, Hirdesh Kumar Singh. Apparently in a face-saving move, during the same meeting, the State delegation sought fresh approval under ICT scheme. “State Education Secretary then requested for fresh approval under ICT scheme. Additional Secretary (School Education and Literacy), MHRD, advised the State that they may come up with fresh proposal at the time of consideration of the proposal of new schools for RMSA,” the letter reveals. While JK government complained of facing constraints in implementing the scheme, sources in Civil Secretariat disclosed to Greater Kashmir that two sitting ministers created hurdles in execution of the program. “In 2009-10, both the Ministers wanted that purchase order for computers under the program be given to their blue-eyed persons, that is why the scheme couldn’t take-off,” they disclosed. Repeated attempts to get version of School Education Minister, Tara Chand and Secretary, School Education, Hirdesh Kumar Singh proved futile as they didn’t respond to repeated calls from this newspaper.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Oct 2013 02:43:13 +0000

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