West Bengal’s Education Minister, Bratya Basu, accused the Centre of withholding the third instalment of the Sarva Shiksha Mission (SSM) funds due to the state’s refusal to sign the MoU for the PM SHRI scheme. Basu criticized the linking of fund release to a separate scheme as unethical and illegal. He questioned the naming of the scheme PM SHRI when the state bears a significant share of the cost, calling it petty politics. Basu expressed concern over the Central government’s actions impacting the student community. The SSM aims to improve school education from pre-school to Class XII levels in line with Sustainable Development Goal 4.