This is one of the first volumes to comprehensively discuss resource constraints and institutional challenges in realizing the Fundamental Right to Education (RTE) in India. It looks at various aspects of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), the primary vehicle to implement RTE and a flagship programme to universalize elementary education in the country. The book presents a comparative perspective across regions and states and evaluates the effective delivery of SSA at the grassroots level. Using rich empirical data, not yet available in the public domain, it provides valuable lessons for the planning and financing arrangements of SSA-RTE between the centre and the states, and towards understanding access, equity and quality of education.The work will be a major resource for scholars and researchers of education, economics, public policy, development studies, and politics.

List of Tables List of Figures 1. Introduction: Setting the Context Praveen Jha and P. Geetha Rani 2. Shifting Terrain of Public Policy Discourses for Financing of Education: An Overview Praveen Jha, P. Geetha Rani, Satadru Sikdar and Pooja Parvati 3. Financing Elementary Education in Andhra Pradesh under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan: A Study on Fund Flow Pattern and Utilization of Resources B. Shiva Reddy and K. Anji Reddy 4. Financing Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) in Punjab: Inter-District Analysis Jaswinder Singh Brar and Sukhwinder Singh 5. Analyzing Fund Flows and Expenditure under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in Himachal Pradesh P. Geetha Rani and Bansi Lal Shukla 6. Do the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Funds Hit the Target? The Case of Kerala M. Lathika and C.E. Ajit Kumar 7. Bottlenecks in the Financial Provisioning for Elementary Education under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan: The Case of Lalitpur, Uttar Pradesh and Rajnandgaon, Chattisgarh Praveen Jha and Pooja Parvati 8. Pattern, Trend and Utilisation of Funds under SSA in Orissa: Performance Analysis of Districts Boudh and Ganjam Sailabala Debi and Surya. N. Mishra 9. Review of SSA Fund Flow Pattern: Case Studies from Mumbai and Raigad in Maharashtra Madhu Paranjape 10. Fund-flow Pattern under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in West Bengal: A Case Study of Bankura District Archita Pramanik 11. Fund Flows and Expenditure in Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan: A Case Study of School Based Grants at Nalanda District, Bihar Avani Kapoor and Anit N. Mukherjee 12. Implementing Right to Education in Uttarakhand: The Missing Links Siba Sankar Mohanty and Nilachala Acharya 13. Community Monitoring of Right to Education: a Case of Udaipur District, Rajasthan Nesar Ahmad, Mahendra Singh Rao, Hariom Soni 14. Financing Elementary Education for Achieving Universal Elementary Education in India: Does it Induce or Reduce Inter-state Disparity? P. Geetha Rani