Centre approves Rs 3623 crore for Sarva Siksha Abhiyan in Bihar

New Delhi, Apr 2 (UNI) The Centre has sanctioned Rs 3623 crore annual plan and budget for Sarva Siksha Abhiyan in Bihar to help the state remove the curse of illiteracy and reduce drop out rate among rural poor.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development made the approval at a meeting chaired by the Secretary, School Education and Literacy Department. The Centre would finance 75 per cent of the budget while 25 per cent would be met by the state government.

The Bihar government represented by Principal Secretary HRD Anjani Kumar Singh pointed out the high utilisation of available financial resources by Bihar Education Project as it had utilised 97 per cent of the available funds in 2007-08. The number of out of school children has also declined substantially from 45 million in 2001 to ten million in 2008.

The approved plan and budget for 2008-09 shows an increase of Rs 400 crore over 2007-08. The Bihar Education Project would undertake construction of 9400 additional classrooms in primary schools and construction of 2057 new school buildings during this year. About 360 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas, having residential facilities for 100 girls would be run by the state government, State Project Director Rajesh Bhushan informed.

UNI AJ SYU DB2014