Ludhiana PM SHRI school among five such in state: Bills stuck on payment portal stall infra work at PM SHRI schools

No bills cleared since new SNA-SPARSH system have halted pre-primary and primary upgrades, say educators

Despite receiving infrastructure funds in September, development work in five Government Model Schools selected under the Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) scheme in Punjab has failed to take off, as not a single bill has been cleared on the newly introduced SNA-SPARSH payment portal.

A PM SHRI school in Ludhiana. (HT Photo)

In September, five model schools across Punjab — one each in Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana and Sangrur, and two in Patiala — were allocated funds to strengthen their primary and pre-primary sections. Government Model Senior Secondary School, Cemetery Road, Ludhiana, was among the selected institutions.

Under the scheme, each school was allotted ₹1,00,000 for Bala features as part of pre-primary strengthening and another ₹1,00,000 for outdoor play material. Teaching-learning materials were budgeted at ₹100 per student under the Bal Vatika component, along with the same amount per student for supplementary learning material for primary classes. Additionally, ₹10,000 per school was earmarked for mathematical games for UKG and Class 1 students under project innovation. For infrastructure, ₹1,60,000 was allotted per school for boys’ toilets and ₹1,00,000 for child-friendly furniture, including differently shaped tables designed to support experimental learning of mathematics.

Schools were also directed to create stepping-stone pathways with numbers for hopping and counting exercises, zigzag walking patterns and multiple child-friendly learning corners themed around colours, vocabulary and stories.

However, none of this work has materialised so far.

Teachers and principals say the delay stems from the slow clearance of bills on the SNA-SPARSH portal.

Many claim that the previous system — the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) — ensured faster fund utilisation.

A principal of a PM SHRI school, requesting anonymity, said the new system has become “highly time-consuming”, as every bill must pass through multiple layers of approval. After being cleared by the district education office, bills are forwarded to Chandigarh and then routed to the treasury department before money is released. “This takes considerable time, which is why all development work has come to a standstill,” the principal said.

Kamaljit Sharma, district nodal officer for the PM SHRI scheme, acknowledged that the transition to a new platform initially caused confusion among school heads. “The process is lengthy, but bill clearance has now begun,and work across all schools will start soon,” she said.