Centre noncommittal on RTE: Kageri

Primary and Secondary Education Minister Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri has blamed the Union government for ‘not committing itself’ to enforcing the Right to Education Act in the states.

Addressing the media here on Thursday, the minister said the Union government was reluctant to reimburse the money spent by the state governments while enforcing the RTE Act.

“The State government will incur an additional expense of Rs 50 crore for reimbursing schools imparting free education to 25 per cent of the students under the RTE quota. This will be a huge financial burden,” Kageri said, adding that the Centre should reimburse the expense incurred.

LPG subsidy

The minister said the decision of the Union government to restrict the supply of subsidised LPG cylinders would hit the mid-day meal scheme.

He said the State government was spending Rs 900 crore per annum on the scheme and the restriction on cylinders would lead to an increase in the expenditure. “Where do we get the money from? The Centre should give an assurance that it will not restrict the number of gas cylinders,” he said.

Attacking the Centre for its ‘failure’ to come out with a clear language policy, Kageri expressed confidence that the Supreme Court would uphold the State’s language policy.
Karnataka’s policy mandates schools to introduce Kannada as the medium of instruction for classes I to V.

The Karnataka Unaided School Managements’ Association (KUSMA) has moved the Supreme Court opposing the policy. The matter was finally heard on September 18 and the apex court has reserved the verdict.

“The Supreme Court served a notice to the Centre seeking  its intervention in the matter. Even my pleas to the Union government have gone in vain. The Centre keeping off from the whole process is very disheartening. There is still time for the announcement of the verdict and even now the Centre can become a part of the process,” Kageri said.