Arjun shoots at higher target

The HRD minister seeks more funds, reminds PM of promise to allocate 6 pc of GDP for education, reports Chetan Chauhan.

Updated on: Feb 19, 2007, 17:31:00 IST

None | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

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The Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry has run into a sea of budget blues over fund-allocation. With an eye on the onerous task of implementing 27 per cent reservation to the OBCs, and the universali sation of education, HRD Minister Arjun Singh is learnt to have written two letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, calling for more funds and reminding him of the UPA government’s promise in its common minimum programme of allocating 6 per cent of the GDP for education.

His ministry had sought about 139 per cent greater funds for education in this year’s budget, over last year’s allocation. The Planning Commission, while increasing the allocation for the ministry restricted itself to Rs 27,099 , crore — a ‘paltry’ 30 per cent rise.

In his two letters, Arjun Singh has sought higher allocation of funds for education — from elementary education to higher education —- citing the need to improve the country’s knowledge base.

He had sought Rs 15,000 crore for Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, clubbed with Kasturba Bal Vidalaya scheme (as against Rs 8,800 allocated for the sector by the Planning Commission).

Singh also feels that the UPA government’s plan to imple ment 27 per cent OBC reservation would simply not take off, given that the Planning Commission has allocated a “grossly inadequate” Rs 2,000 crore for opening three new IITs, four IIMs, two Schools of Planning and Architecture and two Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research, apart from new Central universities.

The impact of this measly allocation, say HRD officials, would be felt on the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) — of OBCs — in higher education. The government had proposed to improve GER to 15 per cent gross by end of 11th plan period, which may now not be met, an official said.

Singh has urged the Prime Minister to intervene to raise the allocation for his ministry to the 6 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) as promised in the UPA government’s common minimum programme.

Email author: chetan@hindustantimes.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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