The Union government has been adamant in not releasing funds to the tune of ₹2,152 crore to Tamil Nadu for refusing to implement the three-language policy, and the State government will seek legal recourse in the Supreme Court, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said here on Saturday.
Releasing a book, Madhayaanai (The Rogue Elephant), penned by School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi on the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, Mr. Stalin said these funds rightfully belonged to the State as recommended by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education headed by former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and Congress MP Digvijay Singh.
“The funds that should have reached students and teachers are being withheld by the Union government due to petty politics,” Mr. Stalin said. Tamil Nadu has recently secured favourable judgments in several cases pertaining to federal rights of States, and he exuded confidence that this case too would end in its favour.
The Chief Minister said that the book exposed the Centre’s concerted effort to ‘saffronise’ education and erase the celebration of diversity in the country, and the only way to stop that would be to start a campaign to bring ‘Education’ back to the State list.
Unanimous resolution
Mr. Singh said despite a unanimous resolution passed by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education to release Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan funds to Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and West Bengal, the Union government had not done so yet. Besides, the Centre also owed Tamil Nadu ₹500 crore under the Right to Education Act, he added.
V. Gopala Gowda, retired judge of the Supreme Court, and Mylswamy Annadurai, former Director of the Indian Space Research Organisation, offered their felicitations.
Mr. Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi said the book had 12 chapters that discussed 39 contentious sections of the NEP, including the three-language policy. Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin welcomed the gathering.
Published – May 18, 2025 12:02 am IST
