To spend promised funds, HRD looks at districts with SC, ST, Muslim numbers

As the HRD Ministry prepares to receive a massive influx of funds from the proposed education cess, it has begun identifying 250 districts w...

As the HRD Ministry prepares to receive a massive influx of funds from the proposed education cess, it has begun identifying 250 districts where a large portion of this will be spent. Universities in some of these districts could be given sums upto Rs 5 crore — a massive jump from the maximum of Rs 75 lakh that they had been receiving from the Centre until now.

The priority, official sources said, is to look for districts with a large Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe presence as well as those where a significant minority population has lagged behind in the education stakes. In some areas, for example, female literacy rates are less then 10 per cent.

The net can then be extended to cover 250 districts. With the total number of districts in the country numbering around 600, more than 40 per cent would be receiving this educational support from the HRD Ministry.

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Given the amounts that the cess is likely to generate, the budget in some cases could multiply many times over. The purposes that it will be used for include:

• Building infrastructure in all existing universities and colleges in these districts. The University Grants Commission has been told to inform all such universities that they may be given sums in the range of Rs 5 crore

• Building more girls’ hostels under the ‘‘Access with Equity’’ scheme. NGOs willing to run girls’ hostels in remote areas can also be funded

• Introducing more computers and computer-related study programmes. State governments may also be given more money to spread computerisation

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Sources pointed out that the Common Minimum Programme has already said that the cess fund could be divided into two parts. One half could be used to promote elementary education while the other could be diverted towards secondary and higher education.

Most schemes that have been identified are aimed at boosting secondary and higher education.

The financial boost could be huge though exact amounts are still being worked out.

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