In order to provide qualitative education for all total Budget allocation for the HRD Ministry in interim Budget 2019-20 is Rs. 93,847.64 crore which is more than 10,000 crore from previous year budget allocation.
1. Total budget allocation proposed in the BE 2019-20 for Higher Education is Rs.37,461 Cr. This is 7% compared to allocation of Rs.35,010 Cr for this sector in BE 2018-19. The Government has therefore enhanced allocation to the Higher Education by Rs.2,450 Cr.
Apart from this, Government has made available more than Rs.17,000 Cr using the HEFA funding mechanism. It is anticipated that another Rs. 14,000 Cr will be made available in the coming year through this window. The overall fund availability for the Higher Education Sector for 2019-20 would therefore be Rs. 69,193.68 Cr (Rs. 37,461.01 + Rs. 17,732.67 Cr HEFA sanctioned projects + Rs. 14,000 Cr anticipated new sanctions through HEFA) in the year 2019-20. Therefore the fund availability for 2019-20 is almost double as compared to the last year.
2. Government has provided an additional equity of Rs.2,100 Cr to HEFA to enable it to mobilise the required funds for building high quality infrastructure in higher educational institutions. Details of the funds made available through HEFA is enclosed.
3. The following are the major features of the budget allocation for the higher education sector:
The IITs have been allocated Rs. 6,223 Cr. Apart from this, projects valued at Rs.12,028 Cr have been sanctioned from HEFA for the IITs. It is expected that there will be more projects that would come under HEFA in the coming year. Taking these into account, the fund availability for the IITs has more than doubled for 2019-20 as compared to the previous year.The Central Universities have been provided Rs. 6,484 Cr. UGC has been allocated another Rs.4900 Cr. There has been major increase in the flagship programmes such as RUSA where budget allocation has been increased by 50% from Rs.1400 Cr to Rs.2,100 Cr. There has been 245% increase in the allocation for quality improvement programme in Technical Education (TEQIP-III). The fund allocation for setting up new IIMs and new Schools of Planning & Architecture, World class institutions have been given very high increases in the budget allocations.For research programmes such as IMPRESS, Rs.130 Cr has been allotted marking an increase of 37% compared to last year. In accordance with the commitments for improving skill levels among the students, the allocation for skill based programmes has been increased from Rs.40 Cr to Rs.125 Cr. Unnat Bharat Abhiyan, under which 10,000 villages have been adopted by the Higher Educational Institutions, has got 70% increase in budget allocation, reiterating the faith of Govt in linking educational institutions with Society.
In the Budget speech, it has been announced that “Allocation for National Education Mission is being increased from Rs.32,334 crore in RE 2018-19 to Rs. 38,572 crore in BE 2019-20”.
Budget for New India will energise the nation, says PM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has lauded the budget as the budget for New India which will energise the nation. In a series of Tweets and the statement after the presentation of interim budget 2019-20, PM said that over 12 crore farmers and their families, over 3 crores middle class tax payers professionals and their families and 30-40 crore labourers will gain thanks to the Budget for New India.
PM said, the development initiatives of the NDA government have touched several lives which have been reflected in the budget proposals from farmer welfare to middle class, from income tax relief to infrastructure, from manufacturing to MSME, from housing to healthcare and from the increased pace of development to the New India,
He expressed happiness that it is good to see more people being removed from the shackles of poverty. Our Neo-middle class is rising and so are their dreams. PM congratulated the middle class for the relief in taxes and said, I salute the middle class for their stellar contribution towards the development of the nation.
About the pro-farmer initiatives in the budget, he lamented that for years, many initiatives have been initiated for farmers but sadly, lot of farmers never came under the ambit of these schemes. He said that PM Kisan Nidhi is a historic step for farmer welfare which will help the farmers who have under 5 acres of land. PM added that the animal husbandry sector, fisheries have been taken care of in the Budget for New India..
Underlining the importance of safeguarding the interests of the unorganised sector, he said PM Shram Yogi Man Dhan Yojana will be of great help. This sector needed more safeguarding of their interests and the Budget for New India. has done so. Ayushman Bharat Yojana and social security schemes are also going to touch their lives, PM added.
PM summed it up saying that it is essential to ensure the benefits of development reach all sections of society. He said,” The budget will empower the poor, give a boost to the farmer and an impetus to the economic growth.”
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