Highlights of the Interim Budget 2024-25 for Education
Shri Dharmendra Pradhan lauds Interim Budget 2024-25 as stepping stone to make India a developed country by 2047
Union Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan praised the Interim Budget 2024-25, calling it a vital step towards making India a developed nation by 2047. He thanked Prime Minister Modi and Finance Minister Sitharaman for presenting a budget that focuses on growth, women-led development, and improving quality of life for everyone.
Shri Pradhan highlighted the budget’s commitment to green growth, job creation, and sector-wide progress.
He applauded the Finance Minister’s vision of harnessing youth and technology to usher in a new era of innovation and entrepreneurship. Shri Pradhan was especially excited about the ‘Jai Anusandhan’ scheme, which allocates ₹1 lakh crore for interest-free loans to private entities for 50 years. This initiative, he believes, will greatly support India’s young innovators.
Finance Minister Sitharaman’s budget presentation underscored the government’s dedication to youth empowerment, emphasizing the role of the Amrit Peedhi – the youth, in India’s future.
Highlights in the Budget Allocations for Education!
* The PM SHRI initiative was notably mentioned, as it is ensuring the delivery of high-quality education while the Skill India Mission has successfully trained 1.4 crore youth, upskilled and reskilled 54 lakh individuals, and established 3,000 new ITIs.
* Numerous institutions of higher learning, including 7 IITs, 16 IIITs, 7 IIMs, 15 AIIMSs and 390 universities’ establishment also found a mention, marking a substantial stride in educational development.
* A notable 28% increase in female enrollment in higher education was a moment of pride. In STEM courses, women now make up an impressive 43% of the total enrollment, marking one of the highest figures globally.
Highlights of Budget 2024-25 – D/o School Education & Literacy
* The Budget Allocation for the FY 2024-25 of ₹73,498 crore is the highest ever for the Department of School Education & Literacy.
* There has been an overall increase of ₹12,024 crore (19.56%) in the Budget Allocation of Department of School Education and Literacy in the FY 2024-25 from RE 2023-24.
* The highest ever Budget Allocation may be seen in the Autonomous Bodies of KVS & NVS at ₹9,302 cr. and ₹5,800 cr respectively.
* Budget Allocation in Flagship Schemes has increased, i.e., Samagra Shiksha (by ₹4,500 cr), PM-POSHAN (by ₹2,467 cr) and PM-SHRI (by ₹3,250 cr) as compared to RE 2023-24.
* Allocation in KVS has increased by ₹ 802 cr while allocation in NVS has increased by ₹330 cr w.r.t RE 2023-24.
Department of Higher Education
* The overall Budget Allocation in FY 2024-25 is Rs. 47619.77 Cr out of which Scheme allocation is Rs. 7487.87 cr and Non- Scheme allocation is Rs. 40131.90 cr.
* There has been an overall increase of Rs. 3525.15 Cr (7.99%) in the Budget Allocation of Department of Higher Education in the FY 2024-25 with respect to FY 2023-24.
ALLOCATIONS TO MAJOR AUTONOMOUS BODIES
* Allocation in Central Universities has been kept at Rs. 15928.00 Cr, i.e, Rs 4314.03 Cr more than allocation in BE 2023-24.
* Deemed Universities have been allocated Rs.596 Cr in 2024-25, which is Rs.96 Cr more than BE 2023-24
* IITs have been allocated Rs. 10324.5 Cr in 2024-25, which is Rs. 963.00 cr more than allocation in BE 2023-24.
* For NITs, Rs.5040 Cr has been allocated in FY 2024-25, increasing the allocation by Rs. 219.40 Cr in r/o BE 2023-24.
* In IISERs the allocation has been kept at Rs. 1540 Cr, increasing the allocation by Rs.78 Cr in r/o BE 2023-24.
* Support to Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have been allocated Rs. 875.77 Cr in 2024-25, which is Rs. 60.37 crmore than allocation in BE 2023-24.
ALLOCATIONS TO MAJOR SCHEMES
* For RUSA, the budget has been kept at Rs.1814.94 Cr for FY 2024-25, which is Rs. 314.94 cr more than BE 2023-24
* An allocation of Rs.1800 Cr has been kept for Institutions of Eminence(IOE), which is Rs. 300 Cr more than BE 2023-24
* For the scheme ‘Pradhan Mantri Uchhatar ShikshaProtsahan Yojna’(PM-USP), the budget allocation has been kept at Rs.1558 Cr in FY 2024-25, which is Rs.4 Cr more than BE 2023-24
* In the scheme ‘National Apprenticeship Training Scheme(NATS)’, an allocation of Rs.600 Cr has been made in FY 2024-25, which is Rs.160 Cr more than BE 2023-24
* In the scheme ‘National Mission in Education through ICT’, an allocation of Rs.480 Cr has been made in FY 2024-25, which is Rs.80 Cr more than BE 2023-24
* In the scheme ‘Multidisciplinary Education and Research Improvement in Technical Education-EAP (MERITE)’, an allocation of Rs.200 Cr has been made in FY 2024-25, a 100% increase over the allocation in 2023-24.
* The scheme ‘Establishment of 3 Centres of Excellence (CoEs) in Artificial Intelligence (AI)’ was a budget announcement in FY 2023-24, an allocation of Rs.255 Cr has been made in FY 2024-25.