Budget 2022: Over Rs 1 lakh crore allocated to Education; funding of IITs, IIMs, CUs up

For the first time Central Govt has allocated over Rs 1 Lakh Crore for the education sector in Union Budget, however once again there has been fund cut for RUSA and for research.

Union Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman today presented her fourth Budget in Parliament, she has allocated Rs 1,04, 277 crores for the Education Ministry. For the first time, the allocation for education has been over INR One lakh crore.

The Budget 2022 saw a marginal increase for education compared to last year, which is split into two departments of the education ministry. The department of higher education’s budget has increased by over Rs 2400 crore to Rs 40,828 crore. Nirmala Sitharaman has allocated Rs 40,828 for higher education, which was Rs 38,350 crore for the year 2021-22. The allocation for Schools education has been increased to Rs 63,449 crore, up by Rs 8576 crore.

Budget 2022: Allocation to School Education

In the Budget 2022-23, Rs 63449 crore has been allocated to the School Education and Literary Department, which has been a significant rise compared to last year’s allocation of Rs 54,873 crore. Sitharaman has allocated Rs 37,383.36 crore from Rs 31,050 crore allocated last year
The allocation for Prarambhik Shiksha Kosh (PSK) and Madhyamik and Uchchtar Shiksha Kosh (MUSK) has been increased to Rs 28,000 crore and Rs 5,000 crore respectively.

Budget 22: Allocation to Higher Education

Modi Government has allocated Rs 40,828 crore for the higher education department of the Ministry of Education.

FM Sitharam was presenting her fourth budget in the Lok Sabha today and announced that the government will bridge the digital divide by creating a digital university. Sitharaman also announced that the central government will allow World-Class Universities to establish campuses in Gift city.

Union Budget 2022: UGC, AICTE, Central universities

There has been a slight increase in funding to regulatory bodies like the UGC and AICTE, which saw no change in fund allocation last year. The two regulatory bodies of higher education have been allocated Rs 5320 crore, which Rs 5109 crore last year. The finance minister has allocated Rs 4900 crore this year, which was Rs 4,693 crore in 2021-22 to the University Grants Commission (UGC) and Rs 420 crore has been earmarked for the AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education).

The central government seems to invest more in central universities as the allocation for central universities has been over 20% this year with an allocation of Rs 9420 crore, while in Budget 2021 central government earmarked Rs 7,643 crore to support central universities.

The funding for Deemed Universities promoted by Central Government has also been increased to over Rs 390 crore this year from Rs 351 crore last year.

IITs, NITs, IIMs get funds

The Budget 2022-23 has significantly increased funding for premium technical institutions like the Indian Institutes of Technology, Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), NITs and IISERs. The IITs have been allocated Rs 8495 crore, while IIMs have been allocated Rs 653 crore, which was Rs 476 crore last year.

NITs and IIEST have been allocated Rs 4035 crore, on the other hand, IISERs have been allocated Rs 1379 crores.

The Budget allocated for IIITs this year has been Rs 542 crore.

Union Budget 2022: 30% fund cut under RUSA

The central government last year allocated Rs 3,000 crore under the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), through which it supports higher education institutions under the state governments and union territories. The funding under the scheme has been once again slashed to Rs 2042 crore.
The fund under the scheme had seen a steep decline in the past couple of years, except for fiscal 2021-22. RUSA was allocated Rs 1,392 crore in the year 2018-19, which was increased to Rs 2,100 crore in 2019-20 but revised to Rs 1,380 crore in the same year.

Funding Research

Nirmala Sitharaman has allocated Rs 218 core for research and innovation this year, which was Rs 237 crore in 2021-22, while in 2020-21 the central government allocated Rs 307 crore. The creation of the National Research Foundation (NRF) is an important recommendation of the NEP 2020, which also suggests increasing spending on research. Last year finance minister announce that the government would spend Rs 50,000 crore over the next five years on research through the National Research Foundation.

However, the government has reduced funding for research, as under the Research and Innovation head, the Central government has earmarked, Rs. 218 crore, which was Rs 237 crore last year.
Allocation for schemes like Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC) and Scheme for Transformational and Advanced Research in Sciences (STARS) has been increased, while for schemes like Implementation of the IMPRINT Research Initiative (Impacting Research Innovation and Technology) and Impactful Policy Research in Social Science (IMPRESS) there is fund cut.
For schemes like Global Initiative for Academic Network (GIAN), the allocation has been doubled to Rs10 crore this year, while one of the major schemes run by the central government, the Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme, no fund has been earmarked.

Study In India

The much-hyped Study In India scheme launched by the Modi Government in its second term has been allocated Rs 25 crore this year as well. Last year the scheme saw a huge fund-cut compared to the 2020-21 allocation. In the 2020-21 Study in India scheme was allocated Rs 65 crore which was reduced to Rs 25 crore in 2021-22.

Digital India

The allocation for Digital India has seen a major cut, which was substantially increased last year to Rs 645 crore compared to Rs 445 crore. In Budget 2022, the initiative has been allocated Rs 421 crore.
Last year there was a significant increase in allocation for massive open online courses (MOOCs), and the National Mission in Education Through ICT, with no fund allocation to MOOCs, while NMEICT has got a booster shot of Rs 400 crore under the initiative. Another initiative under this, e-shodh Sindhu, which was allocated Rs 150 crore last year has seen no allocation in the Budget 2022-23.

The NEP which stresses a lot on digital education through MOOCs and the new ways of teaching and learning. Finance Minister has announced to establish Digital University and increase the number of educational television channels.

Read more: 

• Union Budget 2022: Digital University, One Class One TV Channel to bridge digital divide
• Economic Survey 2021-22: Education Expenditure allocation rises by 20%
• Budget Session 2022: President lauds inclusion of girls in Sainik Schools, NEP, Education in local languages