NEP standoff: Centre claims Bengal forfeited ₹10,000 crore; West Bengal says its policy is 'more advanced'

The National Education Policy 2020 — India's most ambitious education reform in three decades — is becoming a battleground in Centre-state relations. The latest flashpoint: a public confrontation between the Union government and West Bengal over whether the state must adopt the national framework or can chart its own course.

The ₹10,000 Crore Allegation

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, speaking at an education conclave in February, accused West Bengal of forfeiting ₹10,000 crore in central funding by refusing to implement the NEP. The implication was stark: the state's resistance to the policy is costing its students access to federal resources, infrastructure funds, and skill development programmes.

Bengal's Counter

West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu dismissed the allegation, stating that the State Education Policy (SEP) — adopted in 2023 — already incorporates the acceptable aspects of the NEP while going further in areas like local language instruction, vocational training integration, and assessment reform. "Our policy is not a rejection of the NEP — it is an advancement of it," Basu said.

The political subtext is unmistakable. West Bengal, governed by the Trinamool Congress, has positioned itself as a counterweight to what it calls the "centralisation" of education under the BJP-led Union government. The NEP — which restructures schooling from the 10+2 system to a 5+3+3+4 model and mandates mother-tongue instruction until Class 5 — is seen by some states as an encroachment on education, which is a concurrent subject under the Indian Constitution.

The Uneven Implementation

Beyond politics, the NEP faces genuine implementation challenges:

• Infrastructure: Rural schools lack the classrooms, labs, and digital infrastructure the NEP's curricular changes require.
• Teacher training: The policy assumes a cadre of trained, multi-subject teachers that does not exist at scale.
• Funding: The NEP recommended spending 6% of GDP on education; actual spending remains below 3%.
• Foreign universities: While the NEP enables foreign institutions to set up campuses, only a handful have committed — and none have opened for students as of February 2026.

What's Really at Stake

The NEP debate is, at its core, a question about who controls the future of 260 million school-going children. The Union government argues that a national framework ensures quality, mobility, and global competitiveness. States argue that education is local — that a policy designed in Delhi cannot account for the linguistic, cultural, and economic diversity of 28 states and 8 union territories. Both are right. Neither is winning.