Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday promised more funds for social schemes like Sarva Siksha Abhiyan and mid-day cooked meal for school students and other programmes of the HRD ministry.

"We reviewed the progress of the schemes. We concluded that as these programmes gather momentum, more funds will be sought and more funds will be provided," Chidambaram said after a 45-minute meeting with HRD Minister Arjun Singh.

He said the social schemes are of "high priority" for the United Progressive Alliance government and the meeting took notice of the commitments made in the Common Minimum Programme.

"Funds have been provided for these schemes. As and when these programmes gather pace, more funds would be provided," he said.

The Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh also met Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on the possibility of enhancing budgetary support for education.

The meeting assumes significance in view of increased focus on education in the UPA's Common Minimum Programme and President A P J Abdul Kalam's recent appeal to double allocation to the sector.

In his Budget, Chidambaram had imposed a 2.0 per cent cess on all central taxes to fund education.

The CMP had outlined the need to raise public spending in education to at least 6.0 per cent of the GDP.