Ensure 20% of budgetary allocation for education: Finance minister told

By A Representative
In a representation to Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Right to Education (RTE) Forum national convener Ambarish Rai has said that the forthcoming Union budget must put into effect the draft New Education Policy 2019 view that 6% of GDP and 20% of the budget should be allocates as public investment in education.
Deliberating at a pre-budget consultation with the minister, Rai said, an incremental increase on education over a period of 10 years will not address the immediate crisis in terms of quality and equity in education, underling, financial crunch was thr reason why the RTE Act couldn’t be realized on ground.
Pointing out that only 12 per cent schools of the country adhere to the minimal norms of RTE Act, Rai said, “The investment for learning outcomes (soft and numeracy skills) cannot be looked at in isolation from the framework of quality and equitable education as laid down in the RTE Act 2009."
Noting that 38 million children of 6-13 age group and 27 million children of 14-17 age group were out of school, of which 12.5 million are Dalits 7.9 million Adivasis, Rai "Of these 65 million children, more than 80 per cent have never attended any educational institution. He added, girls are twice as likely as boys to have less than four years of schooling and nearly 40 % of adolescent girls aged 15-18 are not attending any educational institution."
The reason, according to him, is, environment is not conducive to learning. "The government needs to invest in teachers, the biggest determinant of quality education in a big way. Filling teachers’ vacancies and strengthening teacher training and onsite support to teachers is the need of the hour."
Seeking "adequate and timely availability of teaching learning materials, including textbooks and libraries", he said, "Fund transfers to parental accounts should not replace provision of textbooks and uniforms” adding, "The government should invest more in the education of out of school children, migrants and child labourers, especially those in educationally lagging areas and from marginalized communities."

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”

If Maoist violence is illegitimate, how is Hindutva, state violence justified? Can right-wing wash off its sins?

By Swami Agnivesh* and Sandeep Pandey** There was major police action against Sudha Bhardwaj, Gautam Navlakha, Varvara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira on 28 August, 2018. Before this police arrested Professor Shoma Sen, Adocate Sudhir Gadling, Sudhir Dhawle, Mahesh Raut and Rona Wilson on 6 June. Even before this Dr. Binayak Sen, Soni Sori, Ajay TG, Professor GN Saibaba and Prashant Rahi have been arrested and all these activists have been accused of having links with Maoists.

Caste 'continues to influence' hiring, wages, migration patterns in India

By Rajiv Shah A recent academic study has highlighted how caste and social identity continue to shape employment opportunities, wages and access to secure livelihoods in India, even as the country projects itself as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. The findings, published in the 2026 Springer volume Unequal Opportunities: An Analysis of Inequalities in Employment Opportunities Among Different Social Groups in Labor Markets of India , argue that structural discrimination remains embedded in both formal and informal labour markets.

Counterview

Search This Blog