Page 68 - EducationWorld March 2023

Cover story II

Union Budget 2023-24: Major education allocations — II
(Rs. crore)
Higher education department 2022-23 (RE*) 2023-24

1. Establishment Expenditure 270.49 290.35
Directorate of Hindi (36.00) (39.77)
2. Central Sector Schemes/Projects 1,225.29 1,540.27
• National Research Professors (0.27) (0.27)
• Higher Education Financing Agency (0.01) (nil)
• Estb. of multi-disciplinary universities
& National Centre for Excellence in
• Humanities (0.01) (nil)
• World-class Institutions (1,200) (1,500)
• PM’s Girls Hostels (5) (10)
• Indian Knowledge Systems (20) (20)

Kingdon: redeployment savings option 3. Students Financial Aid 1,813 1,954
• Interest subsidy 1,070 nil
in 2022. How children cope with these • Scholarship for University student 243 nil
looming challenges, will depend a lot • PM – USP 300 400
on their access to, and participation • PM Research Fellowship 400 400
in quality learning offered by India’s 4. Digital India e-learning 415 420
school education system.” • National Education Mission 400 400
Typically, the budget shows no through e-learning
awareness of this alarming slide in • Higher ed statistics system 10 10
children’s enrolment and learning • Academic Bank of Credits 10
outcomes. Its allocation for public
education adds up to a mere 2.48 per- 5. Research & Innovation 185.24 210.61
cent of the total Expenditure Budget of • National Design Innovation (17.80) (10)
Rs.45 lakh crore in 2023-24. • Start-up Initiatives in Higher ed (40) (11.21)
Admittedly with education listed as 6. Central Sector Schemes/Projects 4,413.01 4,968.03
a concurrent subject under the Con-
stitution, the heavy-lifting is done by 7. Statutory & Regulatory Bodies 5,550.91 5,780
state governments which allocate 9-13 • UGC (5,130.91) (5,360)
percent of state budgets for education. • AICTE (420) (420)
But even this combined allocation is 8. Autonomous Bodies 22,518.72 23,642.87
insufficient and state government- 9. Indian Institutes of Technology 9,345.00 9,661.50
run schools and colleges suffer rock-
bottom governance and management. 10. Indian Institutes of Management 608.23 300.00
Therefore, it is advisable that the 11. NITs & IIEST 4,444.00 4,820.60
Centre should boost its annual outlay
for public education to motivate state 12. IISERs 1,397.53 1,462.00
governments to follow suit. Instead, 13. IISc 829.25 815.40
unmindful of the huge learning loss
suffered by children during Covid-19 14. IIITs 487.52 560.00
pandemic when all education institu- 15. Centrally sponsored schemes 360.67 1,500.00
tions were shut down for an average (RUSA)
82 weeks, the finance minister has Source: www.indiabudget.gov.in * Revised expenditure
raised the education outlay by a mere
7.7 percent to Rs.1.12 lakh crore which
when adjusted for inflation, is nomi- able that Rs.1.12 lakh crore has been headwinds by way of recessionary
nal. invested in human capital develop- conditions abroad and the continu-
“Although the allocation for pub- ment at a time when the economy ing Russia-Ukraine war. Moreover
lic education in Budget 2023-24 is has just emerged from the pandemic with the compulsion of reducing the
only nominaly higher, it is commend- lockdown, and is experiencing strong fiscal deficit to contain inflation, one

70 EDUCATIONWORLD MARCH 2023