T.N Governor’s address: R.N. Ravi urges Centre to release funds under Samagra Shiksha; approve Madurai, Coimbatore metro projects

In his address to the Tamil Nadu Assembly, tabled in the House on Monday (January 6, 2025), Governor R.N. Ravi insisted that the Union government disburse funds due to the State under the Samagraha Shiksha scheme, approve the Madurai and Coimbatore metro rail projects, and conduct a decadal census, along with a caste-based national population census, among others.

In his address to the Tamil Nadu Assembly, tabled in the House on Monday (January 6, 2025), Governor R.N. Ravi insisted that the Union government disburse funds due to the State under the Samagra Shiksha scheme, approve the Madurai and Coimbatore metro rail projects, and conduct a decadal census, along with a caste-based national population census, among others.

Though the Governor left the Assembly hall a few minutes after he commenced his customary speech in the first session of this year, Speaker M. Appavu read out the Tamil version of the Governor’s speech prepared by the State government.

According to Governor’s address, while the State government remained fully committed to ensuring good quality education for students, “it has not received the requisite support from the Union government for its endeavours.”

“Despite Tamil Nadu’s persistent appeals to release funds under the Samagra Shiksha scheme, the Union government has not released any funds till date in the current year, citing the non-implementation of National Education Policy by the State,” he said.

“Funds to the tune of ₹2,152 crore were critical for the functioning of schools including teachers’ salaries, maintenance and upkeep of school buildings, and reimbursement under the Right to Education Act,” the Governor said. Owing to the non-release of this fund by the Union government, the State government has to bear the entire burden from its own resources, thereby severely affecting its finances. “The future of 44 lakh students, 2.2 lakh teachers, and 21,276 staff members hinge on the timely disbursement of these funds and we hope that the Union government will release these funds at the earliest.”

The Governor also urged the Union government to approve the Madurai and Coimbatore Metro Rail projects, as their proposals have been sent by the State government. The Prime Minister, acceding to the repeated requests of the Chief Minister over the last three years, had approved the long-pending demand of providing 50:50 equity share in the Chennai Metro Rail Phase–II, the Governor said, adding: “This will allow the government to complete the project as originally planned.”

“While the unit cost of the Tamil Nadu government’s housing programme titled ‘Kalaignarin Kanavu Illam’ has been increased from ₹60,000 in 2010 to ₹3.50 lakh over the past 14 years, the unit cost of Union government’s similar programme ‘Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Grameen (PMAY-G) scheme remained at ₹1.20 lakh since 2016,” the Governor pointed out. “Tamil Nadu was the only State in the country to provide PMAY-G beneficiaries with the State contribution of ₹1.72 lakh (60% of the total cost),” he said.