Budget doles out 6k schools, Rs 1000cr for skill development

Finance minister has tried to do his best to support the education sector in the Union Budget for the year 2012-2013. The key concerns of research and skill development have been kept in mind as well as the need of more schools in the country.

The key takeaways from this year's budget are:

• Allocation of Rs 25,555 crore towards Right to Education.
• 6,000 new schools will be set up by the government to make education more accessible to children. School education has also been exempted from service tax to keep it affordable.
• National Skill Development Corporation has got a generous sum of Rs 1,000 crore to promote skill training among youth and make them readily employable. 
• Seven medical colleges will soon be upgraded to All India institutes. 
• Agricultural researchers will be awarded Research Rewards of Rs 200 crore for major breakthroughs. Several rural management and agricultural universities have also received generous allocation. 
• Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA) has received a grant to the tune of Rs 25 crore. Rs 50 crore each have been awarded to University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad in Karnataka. Agricultural universities in Odisha and Haryana, including Chaudhary Charan Singh Agricultural University, have been awarded grants of Rs 50 crore each. Kerala agricultural university has received a grant of Rs 100 crore. More about Budget 2012 highlights

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