RBI Grade B Current Affairs — 30 July 2026

PM SHRI (PM Schools for Rising India) is a centrally sponsored scheme launched in September 2022 to upgrade 14,500 existing government schools into model schools across India. These schools showcase NEP 2020 implementation, emphasizing holistic, inquiry-based learning. The scheme operates in two phases with a total outlay of approximately ₹27,360 crore over five years. As of 2024–25, over 6,400 schools have been selected and onboarded under the scheme across states and union territories.

PM SHRI is not just another school infrastructure scheme — it is the flagship vehicle for embedding NEP 2020 philosophy into public school education at scale. The key distinction is the word 'model': these schools are expected to demonstrate best practices in pedagogy, assessment, and green campus design, so that surrounding schools replicate them organically.

The scheme is implemented by the Department of School Education and Literacy under the Ministry of Education. States must sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Centre, agreeing to implement NEP 2020 fully. This conditionality is significant — states that have not adopted NEP 2020 framework cannot access PM SHRI funds.

Funding follows the Centrally Sponsored Scheme pattern: 60:40 between Centre and states (90:10 for North-Eastern and Himalayan states; 100% Central funding for UTs without legislature). Each selected school receives phased grants for infrastructure, labs, libraries, sports facilities, and teacher training.

From an exam perspective, PM SHRI matters because it operationalises NEP 2020 — examiners frequently link the two. It also touches on fiscal federalism (Centre-State funding ratios), education governance (MoU conditionality), and school-level financial inclusion through mid-day meals and digital learning tools. NABARD's interest is indirect: rural school upgradation connects to rural human capital formation, a key input for agricultural productivity and rural livelihood programmes.

EPFO, managing over ₹24 lakh crore in corpus, deploys funds through empanelled Portfolio Management Service (PMS) providers under SEBI's regulatory framework. PMS firms invest across government securities, bonds, and equities under EPFO's investment pattern notified by the Ministry of Finance. SEBI's latest data shows retirement funds like EPFO account for nearly 85% of institutional PMS AUM. EPFO's equity exposure via ETFs began in 2015–16, with allocation capped at 15% of incremental deposits annually.

EPFO is the world's largest defined-contribution retirement fund administrator, covering over 7 crore active members. Because it is a statutory trust — not a mutual fund — it cannot invest directly in markets. Instead, it delegates fund management to SEBI-registered Portfolio Management Service providers such as SBI Funds Management and UTI AMC, operating under a discretionary or non-discretionary mandate. This separates accountability: EPFO sets the investment pattern (notified by the Finance Ministry), while PMS managers execute trades within those bounds.

The investment pattern mandates a minimum 45% in government securities, up to 45% in bonds of PSUs and rated corporates, and up to 15% in equities (only via ETFs, never direct stocks). The ETF route was introduced in 2015–16 to give members equity upside while limiting volatility risk. EPFO typically invests through Nifty 50 and Sensex ETFs, with SBI Nifty 50 ETF being the largest single holding.

Why does this matter? EPFO's asset allocation decisions move markets. A 15% equity ceiling translates to tens of thousands of crores annually entering equity markets. Any policy change — say, raising the equity cap or allowing REITs/InvITs — would have systemic consequences for capital markets and domestic institutional investor (DII) flows. The PMS regulatory layer is thus SEBI's oversight mechanism for India's largest retirement corpus, linking labour welfare policy directly to securities market regulation.