Budget decoder for students

Ipsita Sarkar Gupta

So the budget for 2013-2014 is out. According to FM’s budget speech, Rs 65,867 crore has been assigned to the Ministry of Human Resource Development which means an increase of 17 % from the funds allocated last year. However, when compared to the actual figures planned last year, it is mere 7% overall growth.

But what does all this mumbo jumbo actually mean for the student community? How does it benefit students? Let us take a look at top pointers set to impact the education sector.

• The budget has laid special focus on skill-development programmes to encourage job-oriented education and boost employability. The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) will set the standards for training in different skills. Any institution or body can offer these courses. To further boost such skill-development programmes over traditional subjects, the FM has announced a reward of Rs 10,000 for each candidate who completes the course and takes the test. Rs 1,000 crore has been set aside for this ambitious purpose.

So finish a job-oriented course approved by NSDC, get Rs 10,000 in addition to your certificate.

• A sum of Rs 4,727 crore has been set aside for medical education, training and research. So, more government money to support your projects and research.
• Six AIIMS-like institutions, who have admitted their first batch of students in the academic session that commenced in September 2012, will receive a sum of Rs 1,650 crore.
• Four institutes – Aligarh Muslim University (Aligarh campus), Banaras Hindu University (Varanasi), Tata Institute of Social Sciences (Guwahati campus), Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) – will receive a grant of Rs 100 crore each.
• In an interesting move, the FM has announced a new Companies Bill, which mandates firms to spend at least 2% of their net profit on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). These funds will be utilised to nurture business incubators located in academic institutes. In other words, academic institutes that support new business start-ups or act as business incubators (such as IITs, NITs and IIMs) will now receive support from a wide pool of funds.
• Focusing on certain specific sectors, the government has proposed a set of three new institutes:
  • The National Institute of Biotic Stress Management at Raipur, Chhattisgarh – to address plant protection issues
  • The Indian Institute of Agricultural Bio-technology at Ranchi, Jharkhand – to serve as a centre of excellence in agricultural bio-technology
  • The National Institute of Sports Coaching at Patiala, Punjab – to focus on training sports coaches. The proposed cost of this institute is Rs 250 crore. It’s to be built over a period of three years.
  • Government has also committed towards the reconstruction of Nalanda University as a centre of educational excellence.
  • The budget further announced service tax exemptions for vocational education courses offered by institutions approved by State Councils. This means fees for vocational courses such as tourism, automobiles, agriculture, live stock management, lab technician, paramedics, etc, will get cheaper. A course worth Rs 55,000 will now be something around Rs 49,000 to Rs 50,000.

Though several academicians are calling the budget an eye-wash, many have applauded the increased focus on job-oriented programmes and support to entrepreneurship.

What do you have to say? Let us know right here!