Congress MP Sasikanth Senthil from Tiruvallur, Tamil Nadu, launched an indefinite hunger strike on August 29, 2025, demanding the release of ₹2,152 crore in pending Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) funds to Tamil Nadu.

• He was hospitalized due to high blood pressure but vowed to continue the protest.
• Senthil accused the Union government of withholding funds as leverage to push National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which Tamil Nadu has rejected.
• He emphasized that the delay affects 43 lakh students and 2.2 lakh teachers, calling it a violation of constitutional principles.
• The protest has drawn support from Rahul Gandhi, state ministers, and teacher unions.

Senthil’s stand is framed as a fight for federal fairness and educational justice, not just a political dispute.

Samagra Shiksha Scheme 2.0

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the school education programme Samagra Shiksha Scheme 2.0 till the 2025-26 financial year.

• It has been upgraded to align it with the Sustainable Development Goal for Education and the new National Education Policy launched in 2020.

Samagra Shiksha Scheme:

• It is an integrated scheme for school education covering the entire gamut from pre-school to class XII.
• It aims to deliver inclusive, equitable, and affordable school education.
• It subsumes the three Schemes of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education (TE).
• The scheme covers 1.16 million schools, over 156 million students and 5.7 million Teachers of Govt. and Aided schools (from pre-primary to senior secondary level).
• It is being implemented as a centrally sponsored scheme. It involves a 60:40 split in funding between the Centre and most States. It was launched by the Ministry of Education in 2018.

Samagra Shiksha Scheme 2.0:

• Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT):
• In order to enhance the direct outreach of the scheme, all child-centric interventions will be provided directly to the students through DBT mode on an IT-based platform over a period of time.
• This DBT would include RTE (Right to Education) entitlements such as textbooks, uniforms and transport allowance.
• On NEP Recommendations:
• Encouraging Indian languages:
• It has a new component for appointment of language teachers, which includes salaries, and training costs as well as bilingual books and teaching learning material as recommended in NEP.
• Pre-primary Education:
• It will now include funding to support pre-primary sections at government schools, i.e. for teaching and learning materials, indigenous toys and games and play-based activities.
• Master trainers for pre-primary teachers and anganwadi workers will be supported under the scheme.
• NIPUN Bharat Initiative:
• Under this initiative, an annual provision of Rs. 500 per child for learning materials, Rs. 150 per teacher for manuals and resources and Rs. 10-20 lakh per district will be given for assessment for foundational literacy and numeracy.
• On Digital Initiatives:
• There is a provision for ICT labs and smart classrooms, including support for digital boards, virtual classrooms and DTH channels which have become more important in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
• For out-of-school children:
• It includes a provision to support out of school children from age 16 to 19 with funding of Rs. 2000 per grade to complete their education via open schooling.
• There will also be a greater focus on skills and vocational education, both for students in school and dropouts.
• Other Features:
• Financial support for State Commission for Protection of Child Rights @ Rs 50 per elementary school in the state, for protection of child rights and safety.
• Holistic, 360-degree, multi-dimensional reports showing progress/uniqueness of each learner in the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains will be introduced in the form of Holistic Progress Card (HPC).
• Support for activities of PARAKH, a national assessment centre (Performance, Assessments, Review and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development)
• Additional Sports grant of upto Rs. 25000 to schools in case at least 2 students of that school win a medal in Khelo India school games at the National level.
• Provision for Bagless days, school complexes, internships with local artisans, curriculum and pedagogical reforms etc included.
• Support for Social Audit covering 20% of schools per year so that all schools are covered in a period of Five years.