Page 70 - EducationWorld March 2023

Cover story II

Squeezing resources for post-pandemic education

Expenditure outlay Budgeted Savings Comment
2023-24 (Rs. lakh crore) (Rs. lakh crore)
Establishment expenses 7.44 0.89 Estb. expenditure is too high (15.35 percent of total
buget expenditure). Reduce to 12 percent
Fertilizer, petroleum & 3.75 0.19 Reduce by better targeting, reducing gold plating etc
food subsidy (5 percent)
Non-merit middle class ____ 3.02 Non-merit subsidies are estimated at 10 percent of GDP
subsidies (Centre plus
states) — higher education, (Rs. 301.75 lakh crore). Prune by 1 percent
electricity, piped water, etc
Interest payout 10.79 1.08 Reduce by retiring public debt through additional
public sector privatisation (10 percent)
Defence 4.33 0.22 Defence services can cut expenditure by 5 percent and
_________ ________ make it up by undertaking civil construction projects
Sub-total: 26.31 5.40
Budget 2023-24 (Receipts) Budgeted Savings Comment
Corporate tax 9.23 0.09 1 percent additional remedial education tax
Income tax 9.01 0.06 Rs.1,000 flat tax on all IT payers (58.3 million)
PSE privatisation 0.50 1.50 Raise this amount by accelerating PSE privatisation
_________ ________
Sub-total: 18.74 1.65
Grand total: 7.05
EW recommendations for developing human capital
1) Invest Rs.1.69 lakh crore for libraries, laboratories and lavatories in deficient government schools
2) Invest additional Rs.1 lakh crore in ICDS/anganwadis
3) Invest additional Rs.1 lakh crore in national primary health care centres network
4) Invest additional Rs.1 lakh crore in digital infrastructure in public schools
5) Invest additional Rs.1 lakh crore in skilling centres & Atal Tinkering labs
6) Invest additional Rs.1.36 lakh crore in making 20 public universities world-class

in public universities and switch from genuity to find the money to provide a Curiously although several of the
universal to targeted subsidisation of massive boost to 21st century India’s country’s top economists and intel-
higher education. Higher education is moribund public education system, lectuals have been invited to critique
essentially a private good. Therefore, stranded in shallows and misery. the annual EW schema, not even one
universal subsidisation of higher edu- For the past decade in collaboration has responded.
cation, mainly availed by the middle with Prof. Seetharamu and high- Although post-independence In-
class, is morally indefensible,” says ly-skilled IIT-Kharagpur qualified dia’s dynastic political class is mainly
Pratap, who adds that Plaksha Univer- engineer-mathematician Saugata to blame for the country’s conspicu-
sity follows a “need blind” admission Sengupta, your editors have been ous failure to reap the demographic
policy. Under this, students who pass presenting an ‘alternative budget’ — dividend of the world’s largest child
its entrance exam are awarded bursa- a schema which suggests ways and and youth population floundering
ries if necessary after means-testing. means by which the Central govern- in shallows and misery, arguably an
A highly-qualified and experienced ment can raise Rs.7-8 lakh crore — a even larger share of the blame should
academic — IIT-Kharagpur, Cornell sum seven multiples of its “highest be placed at the doors of India’s feeble
(USA) and former faculty at the top- allocation for education”. Modest re- academy and intelligentsia.
ranked Indian Institute of Science, duction of establishment expenditure, It’s a matter of common knowledge
Bangalore (1996-2021), Prof. Pratap cutting unmerited subsidies, and re- that India’s political class is largely
was appointed founding vice chancel- arranging expenditure priorities (see ill-educated and elections rather than
lor of this ambitious, high-potential box) could mobilise huge resources for development, oriented. Therefore it
technology university last year. investment in human capital develop- is submitted, the onus of educating
Certainly it’s not beyond human in- ment. and guiding them devolved upon the

72 EDUCATIONWORLD MARCH 2023