NEW DELHI : The Centre will soon release ₹14,750 crore to states, including ₹6,200 crore of unused funds from the previous fiscal year, to fund education expenses amid the covid-19 crisis.
The central and state governments on Tuesday also decided to provide mid-day meals to over 100 million school students during the summer vacation, a bulk of whom are in rural India.
The meals, which are generally not provided during the months of May and June, will cost the exchequer ₹1,600 crore extra. But the government believes that it will help rural households facing income loss due to the covid lockdown, and will help provide food security to poor students.