Connecting Madarsa to Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
Madarsas/Makatabs which are affiliated to the State Boards of Secondary Education/State Madarsa Boards and are desirous of introducing the State curriculum, are eligible for grant for textbooks, in-service teacher training, school grant and teacher grant under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).
In the year 2013-14, Rs. 200.00 crores was allocated for Scheme for Providing Quality Education in Madarsas (SPQEM), out of which Rs. 182.73 crores was released.
From 2014-15 onwards, grants-in-aid in respect of both SPQEM and Infrastructure Development in Minority Institutions (IDMI) Schemes is being released under the Head – Scheme for Providing Education to Madarsas and Minorities (SPEMM).
An amount of Rs. 375.00 crore (including Rs. 100.00 crore for modernization of Madarsas) was allocated for both the schemes, (SPQEM and IDMI) during 2014-15. Out of this, an amount of Rs. 107.83 crore was released for 11654 Madarsas.
Both SPQEM and IDMI are demand driven schemes and the Central Government releases the funds to the State Government on receipt of eligible proposals from them. The State Government further releases the funds to the concerned madarsas and obtains utilization certificates of the same, without which funds for next year are not released.
A National Workshop was held on October 09th, 2015 to create awareness amongst all stakeholders on the norms of the SPQEM and all States/UTs have been sensitized on the manner of sending the proposals, so that the scheme can be run effectively throughout the country and maximum benefits can reach the Madarsas. Another preliminary meeting to discuss the proposals received from the States relating to SPQEM scheme before the Central Grants-in-aid Committee meeting has been scheduled in the last week of December, 2015.
