The Hindu : National : Education gets a fair deal

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 01, 2005

National

National

Education gets a fair deal

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, FEB. 28. The first indication that the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry was pleased with this year's budget came from the Minister, Arjun Singh, himself. Sitting on a backbench of the Lok Sabha, the Minister could be seen applauding the Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, as he dedicated a fair portion of his speech to education and announced new proposals and enhanced allocations.

Elementary Education

As always, the bulk of the allocation — this time Rs. 22,268.14 crores — that has come in HRD's way has gone to the Department of Elementary Education and Literacy. While this department got Rs. 12,536.53 crores, the Department of Secondary and Higher Education got Rs. 5,800.50 crores and the remaining amount to the Department of Women and Child Development. The allocation for elementary education and literacy has more than doubled since this Government took charge, from Rs. 5,454.60 crores in 2003-04.

In Elementary Education and Literacy, the biggest chunk of the pie has gone to Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) that seeks to ensure the universalisation of elementary education by 2010. After enhancing the allocation for SSA midway in the ongoing fiscal, the Government has decided to increase the allocation to Rs. 7,156 crores. In his speech, Mr. Chidambaram said the non-lapsable fund created for financing SSA would be called `Prarambhik Shiksha Kosh' instead of `Prathmik Shiksha Kosh.'

Add to this, the near doubling of the allocation for the Mid-Day Meal Scheme from Rs. 1,675 crores to Rs. 3,010 crores. The Government hopes to provide cooked food to 11.20-crore children. As of date, 11-crore children are covered under the scheme; a sizable increase over the previous fiscal's 5.69 crore.

Aid for SC/ST students

The allocations for HRD apart, education of the socially disadvantaged sections of society also found mention in the Budget speech. While continuing with the ongoing scholarship schemes for Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe students under the Central Plan, Mr. Chidambaram announced that SC/ST students who secure admission to any of the institutes of excellence — to be notified separately — would be awarded an enhanced scholarship to cover tuition fees, living expenses, books and a computer.

Also, a new fellowship — the Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship for SC/ST students — pursuing M. Phil and Ph.D. courses in select universities has been announced. Annually, 2,000 fellowships will be awarded from the coming fiscal along the pattern of the University Grants Commission fellowships.

For better pre-examination coaching to minority students, the Government has decided to expand existing schemes to reputed private coaching institutes with the provision of picking up the fees of meritorious candidates from minority communities who enrol for these courses. A certain percentage of new schools to be opened under SSA and Kasturba Balika Vidyalaya Scheme will be located in districts/blocks with a substantial minority population, and Central assistance will be provided for recruitment and posting of Urdu language teachers in primary and upper primary schools servicing a population where one-fourth of the people are Urdu-speaking.

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