BENGALURU: The Breakthrough Science Society (BSS) has criticised the Union Budget for prioritising the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP), over strengthening the existing education sector.
The BSS called the Budget’s allocation to education “meagre” and stated that a majority of the allocation would be poured into NGOs and other private companies to facilitate online education rather than improving infrastructure in government-run educational institutions. “Ever since NEP-2020 was introduced, successive budgets have not reflected the necessary financial commitment.
This year too, the outlay on education is Rs 1,12,899 crore, which is only 2.507 per cent of the Union Budget. It is clear that the Centre is bent on implementing the NEP-2020, without making the necessary financial provisions. Even out of this meagre amount given to education, a significant sum will be spent on facilitating online education to be poured into NGOs and private companies to set up digital libraries and labs for developing apps for the effective use of 5G technology,” said BSS President Dhrubajyoti Mukherjee.
Further, they stated the allocation towards science in the Budget is less than ideal, as it doesn’t allow India to compete with other countries. “What does the scientific community expect to see in a Union Budget? The current level of expenditure in S&T is hopelessly inadequate if India is to compete at the international level in knowledge generation. So the scientific community expects to see a significant increase in the outlay for research,” said Mukherjee.