Chandigarh: The Union ministry of education has declined Chandigarh’s proposal to increase financial support for special educators and cluster resource centre (CRC) coordinators under the Samagra Shiksha scheme for 2026-27. The ministry has retained assistance at existing norms and asked the UT administration to meet the additional expenditure from its own budget.According to the Project Approval Board (PAB) minutes, Chandigarh sought enhanced financial support for its 23 special educators by proposing a unit cost of Rs 10.5 lakh per educator annually, citing annual increments, dearness allowance and arrears. The proposal would have taken the total allocation to Rs 2.4 crore. However, the Centre approved financial support at the existing norm of Rs 6.699 lakh per educator, restricting the allocation to Rs 1.5 crore. The PAB minutes state that the UT may allocate additional funds from its own budget.Chandigarh’s request for enhanced financial support for special educators has not been accepted for the second consecutive year. In 2025-26, UT had proposed increasing the unit cost to Rs 7.7114 lakh per educator, but the Centre retained financial support at Rs 6.699 lakh per educator and advised the UT to bear the additional expenditure.A similar decision has been taken on Chandigarh’s proposal for CRC coordinators. UT sought financial support of Rs 3.3 crore for 20 CRC coordinators by proposing a unit cost of Rs 16.8 lakh per coordinator. The Centre, however, approved only Rs 1.1 crore, recommending salary for 15 coordinators who are in position for 12 months and for five vacant posts for nine months at the prescribed monthly rate of Rs 48,708. It again observed that any additional expenditure may be met from the UT budget.The PAB also rejected Chandigarh’s proposal for a furniture and computer grant of Rs 1 crore for 20 CRCs, stating that the activity is admissible only once every five years and had already been approved in 2024-25. However, maintenance grants, teaching-learning material grants, contingency grants and meeting and travel allowances for all 20 CRCs were approved as per the prescribed norms.Special educators play a key role in supporting children with special needs in govt schools, while CRC coordinators are responsible for academic monitoring, teacher mentoring and classroom support at the cluster level. The Centre has continued financial support for both categories but has not agreed to Chandigarh’s request for higher central assistance towards salary revisions.
