BHUBANESWAR: Education being one of the priority areas for the new BJP government, an enhanced budget outlay and new schemes have been proposed in both school and higher education sectors for students of general and Scheduled Caste and scheduled Tribe categories.
The total allocation for the education sector is Rs 35,536 crore, around Rs 5,506 crore more than the last year’s budget of Rs 30,030 crore. The outlay for school education was Rs 22,528 crore last year and this year, it is Rs 26,391 crore.
With the dropout rate at the secondary education level remaining one of the biggest concerns of the government, more funds have been earmarked for retaining students. For retaining tribal students at the secondary level, Chief Minister Mohan Majhi said a new scheme - Madho Singh Haath Kharcha - will be launched under which an annual grant of Rs 5,000 will be provided to every ST student having passed Class 8/10 and taking admission in Class 9/11. The scheme will benefit three lakh tribal students.
For Gangadhar Meher Shikshya Manakbrudhi Yojana, which is implemented by the School and Mass Education department to check dropout rate, the budget allocation is Rs 409 crore. The scheme had received Rs 155 crore in the previous budget.
The chief minister has also proposed a new scheme ‘Godabarisha Mishra Adarsha Prathamika Vidyalaya’ with an allocation of Rs 50 crore, which is aimed at providing quality teaching at primary level to children in rural and semi-urban areas.
The Odisha Adarsha Vidyalayas, an initiative of former BJD government, will get Rs 935 crore. An allocation of Rs 25 crore has been proposed for PM SHRI schools. ‘Mo School’ is proposed to be renamed as ‘Panchasakha Shikshya Setu Abhiyan’ with a proposed outlay of Rs 332 crore in the budget. An allocation of Rs 1 crore has also been made under Heritage School Development scheme for upkeep of 45 schools that are more than 100 years old.
While last financial year’s outlay for higher education was Rs 3,173 crore, it has been increased to Rs 3,478 core this time. Of this, Rs 280 crore has been proposed for development of infrastructure in government colleges and universities.
The third phase of RUSA scheme, which has been renamed as PM-USHA, will be implemented in the state with an allocation of Rs 155 crore. Similarly, for promoting research, the government has earmarked Rs 36 crore under Odisha University Research and Innovation Incentivisation Plan. While last year, the new Odia university at Satyabadi was allocated Rs 20 crore, the amount has been increased to Rs 50 crore this time.