The education sector saw over a 2% cut in the outlay announced in the Union Budget on Saturday, even as the government proposed to set up new IITs and IIMs in some states. The slash in the education sector as compared to the revised allocation in 2014-15 is 2.02%.
In all, school education and higher education sectors have got Rs 69,074 crore. The revised estimate for 2014-15 was Rs 70,505 crore. The cut is, however, about 16.54% if compared with the actual outlay the 2014-15 fiscal.
Notwithstanding the cut though, HRD Minister Smriti Irani described the Budget as "pragmatic" and said she was "extremely grateful to the allocation of funds for higher learning and also about the thrust on innovation through funding".
While the school education sector has got an outlay of Rs 42,219.50 crore for 2015-16, the higher education sector has got Rs 26,855 crore.
The thrust has been on the higher education sector with the announcement of an IIT in Karnataka and upgradation of Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad into a full-fledged IIT, capping a long standing demand for the people in Jharkhand.
"I propose to set up an IIT in Karnataka, and upgrade Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad into a full-fledged IIT," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said in his Budget speech. "IIMs will be setup in Jammu and Kashmir and Andhra Pradesh," he added.
The Minister also announced setting up of Institutes of Science and Education Research in Nagaland and Odisha.
A Centre for Film Production, Animation and Gaming in Arunachal Pradesh and Apprenticeship Training Institute for Women in Haryana and Uttarakhand has also been proposed.
Jaitley also announced the setting up All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and Assam.
