Bhubaneshwar: The Orissa government recently sought Rs.16,000 crore from the central government to implement Right to Education (RTE) Act in the state from April.

The government said the state is not in a position to implement the RTE due to the paucity of funds.

"We require about Rs.16,000 crore to implement the RTE. We have already communicated the state's demand to the centre," Orissa's Mass Education Minister Pratap Jena said.

According to the state government, the state requires about 30,000 more schools, additional infrastructure and teacher recruitment for the implementation of the RTE implementation from April.

It demanded that Orissa be treated as a special category state like the northeastern states and 90 percent of the expenditure for the provision be borne by the central government. IANS