Chidambaram (top), Ahluwalia: State condition

New Delhi, Oct. 8: The finance ministry and the Planning Commission have struck a compromise with education officials on the funding pattern for the right to education bill as the Centre races against time to meet a key promise.

Under the agreement sealed at a group of ministers (GoM) meeting yesterday, states will have to pay about a third of the funds required for implementing the proposed law, top officials said.

“It was decided that we will follow the pattern used in the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, under which states pay roughly 35 per cent of the total funds,” an official said.

The GoM — set up in August amid differences between the HRD ministry on the one hand and the finance ministry and the Planning Commission on the other — is yet to clear the bill.

The group consists of HRD minister Arjun Singh, finance minister P. Chidambaram, Planning Commission deputy chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia and science minister Kapil Sibal.

“The different parties have arrived at a solution. Once the bill is altered accordingly, it can be cleared by the GoM,” the official explained.

In earlier responses to the draft bill, states had objected to paying for implementation of a law that is the brainchild of the Centre. The HRD ministry then pushed for near-complete central funding, but the finance ministry and the Planning Commission have so far opposed this move.

At yesterday’s meeting, sources said, Ahluwalia and Chidambaram urged the ministry to incorporate in the bill’s wording the responsibility of the states in contributing to funding the law’s implementation.

The bill, aimed at legally guaranteeing the right to schooling for all children between 6 and 14, was promised in the common minimum programme of the UPA government — a promise repeated by the Prime Minister this year.

HRD ministry officials said they faced a race against time. The coming Parliament session starts on October 17. Before it is introduced in Parliament, the bill needs to be cleared by the cabinet.