The state cabinet, which met today, under the leadership of chief minister Mamata Banerjee at the state secretariat, Nabanna, approved in-principle the state education policy, which was vetted by an expert committee.

The decision raises questions on the fate of the National Education Policy 2020, which was earlier cleared by the state government for its implementation. The meeting also cleared the proposal for the muchtalked about formation of the state education commission for the betterment of the state of education in the state.

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Education minister Bratya Basu, however, had dropped broad hints in this regard at the Assembly a few days back. The state government had earlier, in a statement announced that the state government would implement the four-year undergraduate programme under the National Education Policy 2020 from 2023-24 academic session.

Besides, the state cabinet also discussed among other things to split districts in a bigger way with an eye to streamline administrative works in a coherent manner, claimed a source. The chief minister reportedly told senior ministers to lay emphasis on taking into account the local sentiment before firming up any plan to embark on division of districts.

This, claimed the source, stemmed from the fact that since the decision on splitting seven districts was still gathering dust, allegedly due to local resistance, this time the chief minister asked the cabinet colleagues to go slow on this aspect of giving added importance to the local sentiment. Sources also claimed that the chief minister told her colleagues to pull up their socks and expedite implementation of the government decisions.

For this to happen she earmarked 15 days for preparation of a preliminary report and, in the next six months she expected a final report of its implementation. The chief minister also asked her senior ministers to take stern action on any complaint of government land being unused or being encroached upon