Focusing on just 1% schools, Union budget ‘completely ignores’ school education sector

By Mitra Ranjan*
The Right to Education (RTE) Forum’s National Convenor Gautam Badyopadhyay has said that the Union budget ignores the school education sector. “Far from delivering 6% GDP for education that the government has repeatedly promised, this year’s budget brings neither significant focus nor new money for the education India’s 431 million citizens under 18”, he underlined.
This is the first budget after the recent LS elections and the newly formed Government. We do not see any change in the allocations made for school education in the Interim Budget tabled on 1st February, 2024. Meagre increase in the budget of the Department of School Education from Rs.68,804.85 crore in 2023-24(BE) to Rs. 73,008.10 crore in 2024-25(I)(BE) is inadequate, a 6.1% increase which is just ahead of inflation.
In absolute terms, this Rs. 4,203 crore increase is largely on account of allocation in the budget for Rs. 6,050 crore for PM SHRI (exemplar schools). In other words, these new funds are concentrated in less than 1% of India’s schools (14,500 schools out of India’s nearly 1.4 million schools) and will focus on creating pockets of excellence for local elites, not ensure equitable quality education for everyone.
Similarly, while the midday meal (MDM) budget has increased by Rs. 867 crore between 2023-24 (BE) and 2024-25(I)(BE), the actual spending in 2022-23 (Rs. 1,2681 crore) was higher than this year's budget estimate (Rs. 12,647 crore). The focus on ensuring the availability of workplace creches in the budget speech was, however, a positive development from the perspective of ensuring early childhood care and education, provided efforts are made that these adhere to quality and safety standards which would again need more budget.
“This year’s focus when it comes to education was on skilling. This is short-sighted, since it ignores the true reasons for the poor employability of India’s graduates- the poor quality of education they receive in school. The government should have instead focussed on building strong foundations by investing in quality, equitable and inclusive school education which would have enabled India’s youth to emerge from the education system capable of taking up good jobs and realising their full potential,” Bandyopadhyay said.
Expressing shear disappointment, he further said that it clearly shows that the government has no priority for education in Budget. Criticising the Union Budget, the Forum said that the budget should have given a roadmap to strengthen the public education system and ensure ground implementation of the right to free and compulsory education as well as its extension from pre-primary to higher secondary. (RTE compliance is still at 25.5% at national level as per data provided in the Parliament on 2nd August 2021 based on U Dise Data).
---
*National Secretariat, Right to Education Forum

Comments

From Kerala to Bangladesh: Lynching highlights deep social faultlines

By A Representative The recent incidents of mob lynching—one in Bangladesh involving a Hindu citizen and another in Kerala where a man was killed after being mistaken for a “Bangladeshi”—have sparked outrage and calls for accountability.

What Sister Nivedita understood about India that we have forgotten

By Harasankar Adhikari In the idea of a “Vikshit Bharat,” many real problems—hunger, poverty, ill health, unemployment, and joblessness—are increasingly overshadowed by the religious contest between Hindu and Muslim fundamentalisms. This contest is often sponsored and patronised by political parties across the spectrum, whether openly Hindutva-oriented, Islamist, partisan, or self-proclaimed secular.

When a city rebuilt forgets its builders: Migrant workers’ struggle for sanitation in Bhuj

Khasra Ground site By Aseem Mishra* Access to safe drinking water and sanitation is not a privilege—it is a fundamental human right. This principle has been unequivocally recognised by the United Nations and repeatedly affirmed by the Supreme Court of India as intrinsic to the right to life and dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution. Yet, for thousands of migrant workers living in Bhuj, this right remains elusive, exposing a troubling disconnect between constitutional guarantees, policy declarations, and lived reality.

Aravalli at the crossroads: Environment, democracy, and the crisis of justice

By Rajendra Singh* The functioning of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has undergone a troubling shift. Once mandated to safeguard forests and ecosystems, the Ministry now appears increasingly aligned with industrial interests. Its recent affidavit before the Supreme Court makes this drift unmistakably clear. An institution ostensibly created to protect the environment now seems to have strayed from that very purpose.

'Festive cheer fades': India’s housing market hits 17‑quarter slump, sales drop 16% in Q4 2025

By A Representative Housing sales across India’s nine major real estate markets fell to a 17‑quarter low in the October–December period of 2025, with overall absorption dropping 16% year‑on‑year to 98,019 units, according to NSE‑listed analytics firm PropEquity. This marks the weakest quarter since Q3 2021, despite the festive season that usually drives demand. On a sequential basis, sales slipped 2%, while new launches contracted by 4%.

Safety, pay and job security drive Urban Company gig workers’ protest in Gurugram

By A Representative Gig and platform service workers associated with Urban Company have stepped up their protest against what they describe as exploitative and unsafe working conditions, submitting a detailed Memorandum of Demands at the company’s Udyog Vihar office in Gurugram. The action is being seen as part of a wider and growing wave of dissatisfaction among gig workers across India, many of whom have resorted to demonstrations, app log-outs and strikes in recent months to press for fair pay, job security and basic labour protections.

India’s universities lag global standards, pushing students overseas: NITI Aayog study

By Rajiv Shah A new Government of India study, Internationalisation of Higher Education in India: Prospects, Potential, and Policy Recommendations , prepared by NITI Aayog , regrets that India’s lag in this sector is the direct result of “several systemic challenges such as inadequate infrastructure to provide quality education and deliver world-class research, weak industry–academia collaboration, and outdated curricula.”

The rise of the civilizational state: Prof. Pratap Bhanu Mehta warns of new authoritarianism

By A Representative Noted political theorist and public intellectual Professor Pratap Bhanu Mehta delivered a poignant reflection on the changing nature of the Indian state today, warning that the rise of a "civilizational state" poses a significant threat to the foundations of modern democracy and individual freedom. Delivering the Achyut Yagnik Memorial Lecture titled "The Idea of Civilization: Poison or Cure?" at the Ahmedabad Management Association, Mehta argued that India is currently witnessing a self-conscious political project that seeks to redefine the state not as a product of a modern constitution, but as an instrument of an ancient, authentic civilization.

Why experts say replacing MGNREGA could undo two decades of rural empowerment

By A Representative A group of scientists, academics, civil society organisations and field practitioners from India and abroad has issued an open letter urging the Union government to reconsider the repeal of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and to withdraw the newly enacted Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025. The letter, dated December 27, 2025, comes days after the VB–G RAM G Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 16 and subsequently approved by both Houses of Parliament, formally replacing the two-decade-old employment guarantee law.

Search This Blog