Staff Reporter
Guwahati: The Project Approval Board (PAB) of the Union Ministry of Education has approved an Annual Work Plan and Budget (AWP&B) of Rs 3,284.74 crore for Samagra Shiksha Assam (SSA) for the financial year (FY) 2026-27.
The approval was granted at the PAB meeting held on June 3, 2026, to review Assam's education plan covering the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy programme, elementary, secondary and teacher education.
Samagra Shiksha Assam (SSA) aims to provide inclusive, equitable, and quality education from pre-school to Class 12. Key goals include bridging social and gender gaps, building teacher capacity, enforcing modern foundational learning, and supporting the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE).
According to the approved budget, the central government will contribute Rs 2,318.67 crore, while the Assam government will provide Rs 257.63 crore as its matching share. The state also has an opening balance of Rs 708.43 crore available for implementing schemes.
Of the total approved outlay, Rs 2,149.99 crore has been sanctioned for fresh recurring interventions, while Rs 1,134.75 crore accounts for spillover commitments from previous years.
The largest allocation has been made for elementary education, receiving Rs 1,821.47 crore, followed by secondary education with Rs 1,124.73 crore. Teacher education has been allocated Rs 173.43 crore, while Rs 165.11 crore has been approved under the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy programme.
The PAB has also conditionally approved recurring grants for 86 Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan (DAJUGUA) hostels-33 at the elementary level and 53 at the secondary level. Release of funds will depend on the submission of completion certificates along with geo-tagged photographs.
The Ministry noted that Assam still has an unapproved recurring balance of Rs 467.41 crore, which the state may propose for approval at a later stage, if required.
The Board directed the state government to review all pending civil works sanctioned between 2018-19 and 2020-21. Projects that have not commenced or have already been completed through convergence with other schemes will be treated as cancelled.
The PAB instructed Assam to distribute the approved budget among districts based on their proposals and ensure there is no duplication of activities or beneficiaries with other government schemes. It also stressed convergence with departments such as Women and Child Development wherever applicable.
The Board emphasised timely execution of approved interventions and warned that delays in complying with central financial guidelines could affect the release of future funds.
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