17% fall in India's allocation for universal education, Central share down by 47%: RTE Forum to Union finance ministry

By A Representative
In a submission to Union finance minster Arun Jaitley, India's well-known advocacy group, Right to Education (RTE) Forum, has has raised the alarm that the budgetary allocation for universal education, sought to be achieved through the Government of India's flagship programme, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) is down by 17%.
Pointing out that overtime the Union government is reducing its budgetary allocation for school education, it says, the SSA budget in 2014-15 was Rs 28,258 crore, which dropped down to Rs 23,500 crore in 2017-18, a 17% decrease, adding, not only there is a trend in lesser budget allocation, even Central share to states for SSA "is continuously failing to keep its promise."
"Of the total approved outlay, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) committed to share 65 percent, i.e, Rs 5,214 crore of the total fund. However, the audited expenditure shows, that in 2015-16, MHRD had released only Rs 2,437 crore, which is only 47 percent of the approved outlay committed", added.
Prepared by Ambarish Rai, convener, RTE Forum at the Pre-Budget Consultation, the submission says, India is "long committed to spending 6% GDP on education. This was a recommendation of the Kothari Commission. However, India's spending continues to fall short. Indeed, India continues to spend below the global average on education (3.7% GDP, 2017)."
The RTE Forum regrets, on its enactment, the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act 2009, no financial memorandum was attached to implement the its various provisions, adding, "On multiple occasions, calculations have been made to determine the amount of money that needs to be allocated to attain the goal of universal education for all. However, the funds actually allocated have always fallen short of the necessary amount."
Thus, it says, "Compared to the requirement of public expenditure per student, actual expenditure in Bihar is only about 31 percent. Similarly, in Jharkhand and Orissa the actual spending is 44 percent of their requirements. In Madhya Pradesh it is a little more than half (52 percent)."
The submission further says, "After seven years of commencement of the RTE Act, there is a teacher vacancy of 17.51% (more than 9 lakhs) in government schools at the elementary and at secondary level it is 14.78%. Around 10 % percent primary schools are only single teachers. Their service conditions, qualifications and salaries vary widely."
It adds, "Among the existing teachers in government schools, about 20 percent are untrained and the proportion of trained qualified teachers has been almost stagnant since 2010. As per official data, the share of professionally trained teacher varies from 52.2 percent in Bihar to 99 percent in Maharashtra."
The submission says, "The District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs), conceived as teacher training and curriculum development institutions, have failed to live up to their roles. Studies have shown that 17% of the DIETs do not have their own building, 40% do not have their own hostel facility while 70% have no librarian. There is also about 80% vacancy in faculty positions in some states."
It underlines, "The share of schools complying with the entire set of RTE norms has never crossed 10% of schools; indeed, latest estimates by the RTE Forum suggest that the share has declined. Over all infrastructural availability rate is 76.33%. This has impacted drop out of children especially girls belonging to marginalised sections of the society."
On girls' education, the submission says, "They are still out of school because they do not feel safe and secure in schools. Even separate toilet for girls is not available after seven years of RTE. In 2016-17 revised estimate had been just Rs 43 crore, which even doubled in 2017-2018 is not adequate."

Comments

From plagiarism to proxy exams: Galgotias and systemic failure in education

By Sandeep Pandey* Shock is being expressed at Galgotias University being found presenting a Chinese-made robotic dog and a South Korean-made soccer-playing drone as its own creations at the recently held India AI Impact Summit 2026, a global event in New Delhi. Earlier, a UGC-listed journal had published a paper from the university titled “Corona Virus Killed by Sound Vibrations Produced by Thali or Ghanti: A Potential Hypothesis,” which became the subject of widespread ridicule. Following the robotic dog controversy coming to light, the university has withdrawn the paper. These incidents are symptoms of deeper problems afflicting the Indian education system in general. Galgotias merely bit off more than it could chew.

Covishield controversy: How India ignored a warning voice during the pandemic

Dr Amitav Banerjee, MD * It is a matter of pride for us that a person of Indian origin, presently Director of National Institute of Health, USA, is poised to take over one of the most powerful roles in public health. Professor Jay Bhattacharya, an Indian origin physician and a health economist, from Stanford University, USA, will be assuming the appointment of acting head of the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), USA. Bhattacharya would be leading two apex institutions in the field of public health which not only shape American health policies but act as bellwether globally.

The 'glass cliff' at Galgotias: How a university’s AI crisis became a gendered blame game

By Mohd. Ziyaullah Khan* “She was not aware of the technical origins of the product and in her enthusiasm of being on camera, gave factually incorrect information.” These were the words used in the official press release by Galgotias University following the controversy at the AI Impact Summit in Delhi. The statement came across as defensive, petty, and deeply insensitive.

Growth without justice: The politics of wealth and the economics of hunger

By Vikas Meshram* In modern history, few periods have displayed such a grotesque and contradictory picture of wealth as the present. On one side, a handful of individuals accumulate in a single year more wealth than the annual income of entire nations. On the other, nearly every fourth person in the world goes to bed hungry or half-fed.

Thali, COVID and academic credibility: All about the 2020 'pseudoscientific' Galgotias paper

By Jag Jivan The first page image of the paper "Corona Virus Killed by Sound Vibrations Produced by Thali or Ghanti: A Potential Hypothesis" published in the Journal of Molecular Pharmaceuticals and Regulatory Affairs , Vol. 2, Issue 2 (2020), has gone viral on social media in the wake of the controversy surrounding a Chinese robot presented by the Galgotias University as its original product at the just-concluded AI summit in Delhi . The resurfacing of the 2020 publication, authored by Dharmendra Kumar , Galgotias University, has reignited debate over academic standards and scientific credibility.

Conversion laws and national identity: A Jesuit response response to the Hindutva narrative

By Rajiv Shah A recent book, " Luminous Footprints: The Christian Impact on India ", authored by two Jesuit scholars, Dr. Lancy Lobo and Dr. Denzil Fernandes , seeks to counter the current dominant narrative on Indian Christians , which equates evangelisation with conversion, and education, health and the social services provided by Christians as meant to lure -- even force -- vulnerable sections into Christianity.

'Serious violation of international law': US pressure on Mexico to stop oil shipments to Cuba

By Vijay Prashad In January 2026, US President Donald Trump declared Cuba to be an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to US security—a designation that allows the United States government to use sweeping economic restrictions traditionally reserved for national security adversaries. The US blockade against Cuba began in the 1960s, right after the Cuban Revolution of 1959 but has tightened over the years. Without any mandate from the United Nations Security Council—which permits sanctions under strict conditions—the United States has operated an illegal, unilateral blockade that tries to force countries from around the world to stop doing basic commerce with Cuba. The new restrictions focus on oil. The United States government has threatened tariffs and sanctions on any country that sells or transports oil to Cuba.

When a lake becomes real estate: The mismanagement of Hyderabad’s waterbodies

By Dr Mansee Bal Bhargava* Misunderstood, misinterpreted and misguided governance and management of urban lakes in India —illustrated here through Hyderabad —demands urgent attention from Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), the political establishment, the judiciary, the builder–developer lobby, and most importantly, the citizens of Hyderabad. Fundamental misconceptions about urban lakes have shaped policies and practices that systematically misuse, abuse and ultimately erase them—often in the name of urban development.

When grief becomes grace: Kerala's quiet revolution in organ donation

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Kerala is an important model for understanding India's diversity precisely because the religious and cultural plurality it has witnessed over centuries brought together traditions and good practices from across the world. Kerala had India's first communist government, was the first state where a duly elected government was dismissed, and remains the first state to achieve near-total literacy. It is also a land where Christianity and Islam took root before they spread to Europe and other parts of the world. Kerala has deep historic rationalist and secular traditions.

Search This Blog