Karnataka budget: Infra boost, model PU colleges, free bus passes on the cards for students

Bommai also announced that the government will provide a free bus pass facility to all school and college girl students of the state at a cost of Rs 350 crore under the ‘Vidhya Vahini’ Scheme. This is likely to benefit 8 lakh girl students.

Bommai has allocated 12% of the total budget to the education sector – the same as last year – but with an increase in funds from Rs 31,980 crore last year to Rs 37,960 crore this year.

To cater to the requirement of toilets in all schools and colleges through the construction of 7,750 toilets, action has been taken up at an estimated cost of Rs 250 crore in convergence with the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act scheme. Under this scheme, 2,169 toilets will be completed by the end of March 2023. The remaining 5,581 toilets will be constructed in the year 2023-24. A total of Rs 80 crore has been allocated for this, and out of this Rs 50 crore has been provided to the aspirational taluks, those performing below the state average in various developmental indicators.

As part of ‘welfare and inclusive growth’, Bommai also announced the CM Vidya Shakti Scheme which aims to provide free education in government pre-university and government degree colleges. It aims to enable all children who pass out of high school to continue with their higher education. The decision is set to benefit 8 lakh students of the state.

To enhance transportation for 19 lakh school and college students, Bommai announced ‘Makkala Buss’, a scheme through which an additional 1,000 schedules will be operated through road transport corporations at a cost of Rs 100 crore. It is expected to benefit additional 2 lakh students every year.

To provide a better learning environment for students in the 93 aspirational taluks of Karnataka, a series of developmental works at a cost of Rs 632 crore in all schools and pre-university colleges have been announced. Some of them include constructing 1,230 additional classrooms, repairing 2,777 classrooms damaged due to heavy rains and constructing additional 260 classrooms in government pre-university colleges.

The government has also announced the development of one pre-university college in each of the selected 60 taluks as model pre-university colleges by providing essential infrastructure in the field of science education. In addition, the construction of dormitories in 30 Kasturba Gandhi girls’ hostels, the repair of 47 residential schools and the development of smart classrooms are on the cards.

In addition to this, in aspirational taluks, a series of initiatives targeting learning standards and improving results has been announced with a grant of Rs 135 crore. Some of the initiatives include establishing Srushti tinkering laboratories in 73 Karnataka public schools and 50 Adarsha Vidyalayas at the cost of Rs 15 crore, granting Rs 100 crore for the construction of new schools in the 23 taluks which do not have Karnataka public schools and for the development of functional 46 schools.

To inculcate interest and awareness about current affairs, strengthening of libraries and establishment of reading corners will be undertaken by providing books, newspapers, and periodicals at a grant of Rs 20 crore in 24,347 schools. A new scheme, Abhyudaya, will also be launched in association with J PAL (a non-profit organisation) for taking up supplementary teaching to class 8 and 9 students to improve SSLC results.

‘Second version of last year’s budget’

Education expert Niranjanaradhya V P dubbed the budget as the “second version” of the 2022-23 budget. “The budget presented today continues to promise to finish the work started in 2022-23 instead of telling how we will find solutions to the burning problems in school education in 2023-24. The 2023-24 budget is not a new budget but a second version of the 2022-23 budget,” he said.

“Although the allocation has increased, the pressing issues are whether the present 23.6 per cent compliance of the Right to Education Act should be raised to at least 50 per cent, the provision of filling up of 1,41,358 vacant posts of teachers in government schools, and the administration to eradicate acute malnutrition,” he said, adding that providing eggs to children, providing grants to unaided Kannada schools find no mention in the budget.

The All India Democratic Students Organisation (AIDSO) Karnataka unit welcomed the announcements in the budget, saying it was “a victory to the students’ movement”.

“Several announcements made by the Karnataka state government in the state budget document placed today have been the demands of the student community in the state who have been fighting to strengthen the public education system in the state since one year,” AIDSO said.

“Free education announced to students studying in government PU and degree students, renovation of government schools, free bus pass to all girl students in the state, and construction of toilets in all government schools – all these announcements have been in resonance with the students’ movement. But, construction of a government engineering college in every district, free bus passes for all students and other demands have not been met,” the organisation added.