New Delhi: Government of India pinned its expenses at Rs 44,528 crore (Rs 445.28 billion) for both school and higher education.This year the expenditure outlay for education is around 20 percent more than the last fiscal.
As per the Union Budget 2009-10 proposals announced in the Parliament by Pranab Mukherjee, Finance Minister, the school education gets over Rs 29,099 crore (Rs 290.99 billion), while the higher education bags Rs 15,429 crore (Rs 154.29 billion). The figures include both planned and unplanned outlay. Last fiscal, the total budget outlay for education was Rs 37,366 crore.
Pranaba, as Mukherjee is fondly called, said that Human Resource Development Ministry has been allocated a sum of Rs 36,400 crore (planned outlay). The fund will be spent mainly for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Midday Meal schemes. The budget has also has made provision of Rs 350 crore to set up 6,000 model schools as benchmark of excellence.
An outlay of Rs 750 crore has been kept for distributing 100,000 scholarships for students in class 11-12 under the national means-cum-merit scholarship scheme. In order to boost higher education, the government allocated the sector over Rs 40 billion more than the last fiscal, including a package of over Rs 10 billion for the implementation of quota for other backward castes (OBCs).
In the current fiscal the higher education budget has been pegged at Rs 15, 429 crore (Rs154.29 billion), including a planned allocation of Rs.9, 600 crore. During the last financial year, the total allocation was Rs.11, 340 crore. The University Grant Commission (UGC) has been provided an allocation of Rs 4, 374.95 crore, which includes expenditure for both central and deemed universities.
Finance Minister also announced that the government shall take forward its objective of having one central university in each uncovered state and for this purpose a sum of Rs 827 crore has been allocated. Clarifying the expenditure for execution of 27 percent quota for the OBC students, the budget highlights that the allocation for central universities includes a provision of Rs 1, 033 crore for implementation of oversight committee recommendations on implementations of the reservation for OBC communities.
The stipulation for the scheme Mission in Education through ICT has been significantly increased to Rs 900 crore. Similarly the provision for setting up and upgradating polytechnics under the skill development mission has been increased to Rs 495 crore. Moreover, a special package for the Panjab University has been announced, in which it has been proposed that an amount of Rs 50 crore will be allotted for the university.
With the view of promoting distance education, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and state open universities are allocated Rs 90 crore. The budget further emphasized that there is a provision of Rs 3, 902 crore for technical education that includes provision towards assistance to IITs, IIMs and NITs.
