Centre must yield, share due RTE funds to State, appeals Anbil Mahesh

TIRUCHY: The School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi here on Tuesday hit out at the Union government for failing to release funds for RTE to Tamil Nadu, saying that it affects 60,000 students across the State. The state government is currently managing with its own funds, he said.

Minister Mahesh Poyyamozhi assured students and parents that the BJP-led Centre’s stepmotherly treatment would not affect their future. The last date for applying for the RTE would be extended as the online portal was down, and steps would be initiated to rectify the issue, he added.

The minister pointed out that the Union government has failed to release the funds for RTE for the past two years. “Despite the Union government failing to release due funds to the State, the Tamil Nadu government had managed it on its own,” he said and appealed to the Union government to release the funds without any further delay, appealing to the Centre to play politics.

Meanwhile, Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi also inaugurated the volleyball tournament for the Chief Minister’s Trophy games at Anna Stadium in Tiruchy, which will be held until October 13. Minister Mahesh said that the Chief Minister’s Trophy games are conducted in five categories. School students and persons with disabilities can also participate in the games, he added.

As many as 32 events would be conducted across the State, he said. “The volleyball tournament that commenced today would have as many as 555 men and 570 women participants, apart from the team managers across 38 districts of the State,” the School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh told reporters.