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June 1, 1998

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Education Budget up 50 per cent to Rs 70 billion

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The Budget provides for a nearly 50 per cent increase in the total budgetary allocation to education.

The outlay has been increased to Rs 70.47 billion for the current year from Rs 47.16 billion in the previous Budget.

Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha also pronounced his government's commitment to raise the total resource allocation for education to six per cent of GDP in a phase manner. The government plans to implement the constitutional provision for making primary education free and compulsory up to fifth standard and for girls up the college level, he said.

He also announced the formulation of a scheme for creation of a National Reconstruction Corps which will mobilise youth for community based nation building activities. The scheme will also promote self-employment of youth whereby the volunteers would simultaneously be given training in vocations and entrepreneurship development for taking up self employment vocations. Sinha said an inter-ministerial committee is being set up to work out the details.

The finance minister said that allocations under the Kasturba Gandhi Shiksha Yojana and the Mahila Samiridhi Yojana will be integrated to support a unified action plan for accelerating female education. He said that universalisation of elementary education and eradication of illiteracy are central elements of government's social policy.

Budget '98

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