ExplainSpeaking: Share of education Budget has shrunk under Modi govt. Here is where it stands, and what this means

The immediate trigger for the protests was the leak of the 2026 NEET-UG question paper. Every year, millions of students hoping to become doctors take the exam. This was neither the first time NEET papers got leaked, nor was it the only examination to witness such a lapse. Reports suggest that over the past decade, test papers have been leaked in over 150 different competitive examinations held in India.

What has intensified criticism is a sense of impunity and lack of accountability surrounding such repeated lapses. A recent Indian Express investigation into the status of cases linked to 45 major exam paper leaks over the past two decades, where each exam saw at least 1 lakh applicants, threw up stark results.

Only two of these cases led to convictions. Most are either trapped in legal quicksand or have simply hit a dead end. In fact, two of the accused in exam leaks are now elected representatives in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly.

At a time when the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led incumbent government’s handling of the education sector is under scrutiny, how can its performance be analysed? There is no singular metric for it, but the allocation of money from annual Budgets to the relevant departments and ministries is a good way to understand the importance that any government attaches to a particular issue.

In the past, several scholars have repeatedly criticised Indian governments for not allocating enough funds to critical ministries, such as education and health. Here is a look at how the annual allocations towards the education ministry in the Union Budgets have changed over the years.

Examining Budget allocations

It is natural that over time, the absolute amount allocated to any major ministry will increase, if for no other reason than the annual inflation in prices of the same goods and services. The metric for ascertaining whether a ministry or department lost or gained relevance in policy terms is to look at the funds allocated to it as a percentage of the total Budget for a financial year.

Since Budget Estimates have routinely changed, the following exercise only looks back on the period for which hard data is available. In other words, all analysis uses data up to the end of the last financial year. The starting point for the data is 2009, the earliest year for which the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy’s (CMIE) Economic Outlook module provides details.

When data is compiled, a clear picture emerges with reference to the education ministry’s relative importance, or the lack of it, during the first 12 years of this NDA government.

Reducing share since 2014

Looking back at the Union Budget from 2009-10 onwards, it becomes clear that, on average, the total size of the Union Budget grew by an average of 10.4% each year. This means that the total amount of money the government spent each year was roughly 10% more than what it spent the year before. As such, across most ministries and departments, Budget allocations (in absolute terms) also went up.

For the purpose of this analysis, however, the focus is not on the absolute amount of money spent on a ministry but whether its share in the overall Budget expanded or shrunk or remained stagnant.

The chart below maps the relative share (in the overall Budget) of three key ministries over the years:

*Ministry of Education (earlier called the Ministry of Human Resource Development). The chart also maps the share of allocations for the two departments under this ministry: the Department of School Education and the Department of Higher Education

*Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

*Ministry of Road Transport and Highways

Share of Budget allocations for various ministries and departments.

The data on the other two ministries provide context by showing other sectors where people often demand higher allocation (health) and which represent the growth model of the Modi era (roads and highways).

The data show that the Education Ministry’s share in the Union Budget fell from 4.6% in 2013-14 (the last year that the Congress-led UPA government was in power) to 2.5% in 2025-26. In other words, the Education Ministry now commands only half the share that it had before PM Modi took charge. The fall in relative share can also be seen in the allocation to both departments. The share of the Department of School Education is less than half of what it was 12 years ago, while the Department of Higher Education’s share is just around 60% of what it used to be.

The share of allocation to the Health ministry has gone up and down marginally from one year to another, but the share is stagnant over the long term.

In sharp contrast, the share of money spent on making roads and highways has almost trebled in the past 12 years. In fact, 12 years ago, education and health together received 6.5% of the annual Budget while the ministry received just 1.8% of the total expenditure. As the years have rolled by, education and health together receive only about 4.5% of the annual Budget while the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways received 5.8% alone.

What about allocations for skill development?

Over the years, especially with the rise of artificial intelligence, governments have focussed on skilling over and above education. In fact, in 2015-16, the Central government created a new ministry just for this purpose. However, the share of the Budget spent on skilling presents a sobering picture, and is quite in contrast to the government’s pronouncements to “Skill India”.

As the table above shows, the share of allocations to the Ministry of Skill Development was a minuscule 0.06% to begin with, and it has now slid to 0.05%.

Upshot

Looking at the share, level and trend of allocations provides a good understanding of a government’s priorities. To be sure, each government is entitled to choose its own set of priorities — after all, this is exactly why voters choose or discard governments. The Modi government is now in its third consecutive term, suggesting that voters have resoundingly ratified the government’s policy choices.

Yet, the decline in the share of allocation to the Ministry of Education is worrying for the future of India’s youth and their growing aspirations. And while spending more money is no guarantee for the quality of expenditure — as many cases of sinking new roads and falling bridges attest — it is often a necessary first step towards improving the situation.

The picture emerging from this data echoes the words of noted economist John Kenneth Galbraith, who said, “I am worried about our tendency to over invest in things and under invest in people.”

Do you think the government has done enough to either assuage the protesters or indeed tackle the structural issues that have led to repeated leaks in test papers? What more would you want the government to do?

Share your views and queries at udit.misra@expressindia.com

Take care,

Udit