Higher education gets a big push with 13 pc more fund

Seeking to boost higher education, the National Democratic Alliance government increased budgetary allocation for the sector by nearly 13 per cent over that of 2013.

School education, however, got about 10 per cent increase in allocation compared to last year. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley allocated Rs 55,115.10 crore for implementation of school education and literacy programmes and other schemes and Rs 27,656 crore for higher learning. 

The previous UPA government had revised allocation to Rs 50,136.30 crore for school education and literacy, and Rs 24,485 for higher education in  2013-14. Jaitley announced five new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and five Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). “I propose to set aside a sum of Rs 500 crore for this,” he said.

The new IITs will come up in J&K, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, while the IIMs will go to Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Bihar, Odisha and Maharashtra.President Pranab Mukherjee, in his address to the joint session of Parliament on June 9, however, had indicated new IITs and IIMs in every state.

The minister also proposed setting up of the Jai Prakash Narayan National Centre for Excellence in Humanities in Madhya Pradesh.

“The country needs world class centres of higher learning,” he said.

He also proposed setting up of a National Centre for Himalayan Studies in Uttarakhand with an initial outlay of Rs 100 crore.  Jaitley earmarked Rs 28,635 crore for implementation of Centre’s flagship scheme Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Rs 4,966 crore for the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan. 

Noting that there was a “residual gap” in providing “minimal” school infrastructure facilities in schools, he said the government would strive to provide toilets and drinking water in all the girls’ schools in the first phase.

Jaitley announced rolling out of Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya Teachers’ Training Programme, with an initial sum of Rs 500 crore. The government will also initiate a school assessment programme at a cost of Rs 30 crore.

Jaitley earmarked Rs 100 crore for modernisation of madrassas and another Rs 100 crore for setting up virtual classrooms in the country.