World Bank grants 600 million dollars to SSA
New Delhi: Entering into a new agreement with the World Bank, the Government of India (GOI) has received a grant of 600 million dollars (about Rs.2400 crores) as partial funding towards the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) programme. This was announced by Minister of Human Resource Development (HRD) Mr. Arjun Singh in the Rajya Sabha today. This assistance will be valid for the period 2007-10. "The World Bank has accepted the SSA as an ongoing programme along with its national design and implementation systems", Arjun Singh said. The World Bank assistance is received by the Government of India (GOI) as reimbursement up to a defined level against annual expenditures incurred by the SSA programmes. The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) is the Government of India's flagship programme for achievement of Universalisation of Elementary Education (UEE) in a time bound manner. This programme is being implemented in partnership with State Governments to cover the entire country and address t