The J&K School Education Department (SED) has poorly performed in the utilisation of the funds released under PM Shri school scheme during the last year.
A top official told Greater Kashmir that the poor execution of the scheme at the school level left a major chunk of funds unused, which will have its implications for further funding from the Ministry of Education (MoE), government of India.
The official said that funds worth Rs 200 crore were released from Samagra Shiksha to the concerned Chief Education Officers (CEOs) out of which only Rs 20 crores have been utilised.
While the top officials blame the schools and DDOs for poor utilisation of funds, the school teachers attribute it to the tedious process involved in getting bills approved from the concerned quarters.
“The schools are not conducting activities on time for which funds are provided by the MoE under the scheme. Due to this the funds remain unutilised,” the official told Greater Kashmir.
However the school teachers said the funds are released late from the Samagra due to which the DDOs face issues in releasing the money tp the schools.
“They have made the process very tedious. At times, we don’t even get informed if our bills are approved or rejected,” a school teacher told Greater Kashmir.
He said the schools conduct the activities or make some purchases online from the GeM portal, but the bills are not approved for the release of funds.
Amid this, the scheme is yet to take off in J&K despite the passage of two years since the inception of the scheme.
As already reported, around 390 government schools in J&K have been selected for their upgradation as PM SHRI Schools.
Under the scheme, these schools will get modern education, focusing on NEP 2020 implementation.
These facilities include smart classrooms, laboratories, and green infrastructure.
Under the scheme, the existing schools are strengthened to act as exemplars of quality teaching.
“Basically, the selection of schools for PM Shri was not done properly. The schools to be selected for the scheme must have enough space, playground and infrastructure. But in many cases, these parameters have not been followed,” the official told Greater Kashmir.
The scheme is executed through Samagra Shiksha with projects approved for upgrades in various districts. Schools are designed with eco-friendly features like solar panels and water harvesting.
The PM Shri scheme aims to transform these schools into green schools and provide high-quality education to enhance the cognitive development of students.
Meanwhile, the Department of School Education and Literacy (DSEL) has scheduled a meeting to review PM Shri schools of J&K on April 28, 2026.
The team of officials from J&K SED has already arrived in New Delhi.
“We are apprehensive of the response from DSEL as the performance in terms of utilisation of funds has remained very poor,” an official said.
