Implement Right to Education, provide Rs 2 lakh crore to 'laggard' states: RTE Forum

By A Representative
The Right to Education (RTE) Forum, in a submission to the pre-budget consultation for 2020-21 on December 23 to the Union Finance Ministry, has said that though this year marks 10 years of completion of the enactment of RTE Act, 2009, "Evidence both based on the field reports and macro-data, CAG reports as well as independent studies, points to the multiple areas of non-compliance."
Made by Ambarish Rai, national convener, RTE Forum, the submission said there is a need to provide a "big push in financial resources to educationally lagging 16 states", pointing towards how the overall picture of inadequacy of current levels of spending does not address "the unequal position of the states."
"Our federal setup makes it important to examine the funds required by each state and their own ability to find resources. Sixteen states are identified where the additional resource requirement exceeds 1 percent of their Gross State Domestic Product. A big push from the Centre for these states is necessary if all regions and all states are to fulfill the RTE mandate", Rai said.
Giving details of the additional resource requirements for RTE, Rai said, these are Bihar (Rs 47,736 crore), UP (Rs 38,316 crore), MP (Rs 22,682 crore), West Bengal (Rs.19,870 crore), Rajasthan (Rs 17,731 crore), Orissa (Rs 13,306 crore), Jharkhand (Rs 11,122 crore), Assam (Rs 10,875 crore), Chhattisgarh (Rs 7,708 crore), and seven other Special Category States (Rs 10,201 crore). The total comes to Rs 1,99,547 crore.
Rai regretted, the problem has been aggravated because "the Center has consistently reduced its contribution to overall public spending on elementary education in the recent years." At the same time, he added, states should be allowed "to plan and implement their programmes in a way most suited to local needs and conditions."
The submission, quoting official figures, said that in 2016-17 only 12.7% schools complied with the Act's provisions. "It is evident that due to acute financial crunch, the RTE Act couldn’t be realized on ground and universalisation of quality education still remains a distant dream in our country", Rai asserted.
Underling the need to address the "immediate crisis in terms of quality and equity in education" in order to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals for early childhood and secondary education, he said, "There is an urgent need to enhance budgetary allocation for education and move towards 6% of GDP, which is a long-standing national commitment and has been reaffirmed in the draft National Education Policy (NEP) 2019.”

The Center has consistently reduced its contribution to overall public spending on elementary education

According to Rai, "There is need to make a departure from the practice of incremental budgeting and adopt a clear financial roadmap for universalization of elementary education compliant with the RTE Act 2009", adding, this roadmap should be "based on the framework of equitable financing, which would allow public education of equitable quality for everyone."
Insisting on the need to prioritize quality of education, Rai said, investing in teachers should be "the biggest determinant of quality education", adding, this should be backed up with "filling teacher vacancies and strengthening teacher training and onsite support." Other measures required include "ensuring adequate, timely availability of teaching learning materials including textbooks and libraries."
Rai said, there should be "greater investment in the education of out of school children, migrants and child labourers, especially those in educationally lagging areas and from marginalized communities to address educational inequality".
Wanting "greater emphasis" on making education "gender transformative", Rai said, there is a need to "invest for the education of girls and ensure availability of more public secondary schools in the neighbourhood", especially in of the fact that "relatively less number of girls transit to secondary level", which is especially for girls from SC, ST, OBC and minority communities.

Comments

The silencing of conscience: Ideological attacks on India’s judiciary and free thought

By Sunil Kumar* “Volunteers will pick up sticks to remove every obstacle that comes in the way of Sanatan and saints’ work.” — RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat (November 6, 2024, Chitrakoot) Eleven months later, on October 6, 2025, a man who threw a shoe inside the Supreme Court shouted, “India will not tolerate insults to Sanatan.” This incident was not an isolated act but a continuation of a pattern seen over the past decade—attacks on intellectuals, writers, activists, and journalists, sometimes in the name of institutions, sometimes by individual actors or organizations.

N-power plant at Mithi Virdi: CRZ nod is arbitrary, without jurisdiction

By Krishnakant* A case-appeal has been filed against the order of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and others granting CRZ clearance for establishment of intake and outfall facility for proposed 6000 MWe Nuclear Power Plant at Mithi Virdi, District Bhavnagar, Gujarat by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) vide order in F 11-23 /2014-IA- III dated March 3, 2015. The case-appeal in the National Green Tribunal at Western Bench at Pune is filed by Shaktisinh Gohil, Sarpanch of Jasapara; Hajabhai Dihora of Mithi Virdi; Jagrutiben Gohil of Jasapara; Krishnakant and Rohit Prajapati activist of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the MoEF&CC, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and case is kept for hearing on August 20, 2015. Appeal No. 23 of 2015 (WZ) is filed, a...

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Celebrating 125 yr old legacy of healthcare work of missionaries

Vilas Shende, director, Mure Memorial Hospital By Moin Qazi* Central India has been one of the most fertile belts for several unique experiments undertaken by missionaries in the field of education and healthcare. The result is a network of several well-known schools, colleges and hospitals that have woven themselves into the social landscape of the region. They have also become a byword for quality and affordable services delivered to all sections of the society. These institutions are characterised by committed and compassionate staff driven by the selfless pursuit of improving the well-being of society. This is the reason why the region has nursed and nurtured so many eminent people who occupy high positions in varied fields across the country as well as beyond. One of the fruits of this legacy is a more than century old iconic hospital that nestles in the heart of Nagpur city. Named as Mure Memorial Hospital after a British warrior who lost his life in a war while defending his cou...

Citizens’ group to recall Justice Chagla’s alarm as India faces ‘undeclared' Emergency

By A Representative In a move likely to raise eyebrows among the powers-that-be, a voluntary organisation founded during the “dark days” of the Indira Gandhi -imposed Emergency has announced that it will hold a public conference in Ahmedabad to highlight what its office-bearers call today’s “undeclared Emergency.”

New RTI draft rules inspired by citizen-unfriendly, overtly bureaucratic approach

By Venkatesh Nayak* The Department of Personnel and Training , Government of India has invited comments on a new set of Draft Rules (available in English only) to implement The Right to Information Act, 2005 . The RTI Rules were last amended in 2012 after a long period of consultation with various stakeholders. The Government’s move to put the draft RTI Rules out for people’s comments and suggestions for change is a welcome continuation of the tradition of public consultation. Positive aspects of the Draft RTI Rules While 60-65% of the Draft RTI Rules repeat the content of the 2012 RTI Rules, some new aspects deserve appreciation as they clarify the manner of implementation of key provisions of the RTI Act. These are: Provisions for dealing with non-compliance of the orders and directives of the Central Information Commission (CIC) by public authorities- this was missing in the 2012 RTI Rules. Non-compliance is increasingly becoming a major problem- two of my non-compliance cases are...

Epic war against caste system is constitutional responsibility of elected government

Edited by well-known Gujarat Dalit rights leader Martin Macwan, the book, “Bhed-Bharat: An Account of Injustice and Atrocities on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-18)” (available in English and Gujarati*) is a selection of news articles on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-2018) published by Dalit Shakti Prakashan, Ahmedabad. Preface to the book, in which Macwan seeks to answer key questions on why the book is needed today: *** The thought of compiling a book on atrocities on Dalits and thus present an overall Indian picture had occurred to me a long time ago. Absence of such a comprehensive picture is a major reason for a weak social and political consciousness among Dalits as well as non-Dalits. But gradually the idea took a different form. I found that lay readers don’t understand numbers and don’t like to read well-researched articles. The best way to reach out to them was storytelling. As I started writing in Gujarati and sharing the idea of the book with my friends, it occurred to me that while...

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

'Violation of Apex Court order': Delhi authorities blamed for dog-bite incidents at JLN Stadium

By A Representative People for Animals (PFA), led by Ms. Ambika Shukla, has held the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) responsible for the recent dog-bite incidents at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, accusing it of violating Supreme Court directions regarding community dogs. The organisation’s on-ground fact-finding mission met stadium authorities and the two affected coaches to verify details surrounding the incidents, both of which occurred on October 3.

Counterview

Search This Blog