From nursing schools to research grant, highest-ever allocation for the education budget of Rs 1.12 lakh crore

NewsBharati    01-Feb-2023 15:36:13 PM
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New Delhi, Feb 1: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her fifth budget today. The Education Ministry has been allocated Rs 1.12 lakh crore for 2023-2024 comparatively higher than last year’s Rs 1.04 lakh crore.
 
Education Budget
Notably, this highest-ever allocation for the education budget. The Department of School Education will receive Rs 68,804 crore while the Department of Higher Education has been allocated Rs 44,094 crore.
 
Here are the education budget highlights from Union Budget-
 
1. Agri-startups - The agriculture accelerator fund would be set up to encourage young entrepreneurs to launch agri-startups, especially in rural areas.
2. New Nursing Colleges - In a significant development, 157 new nursing colleges will be established in core-locations of India alongside the 157 medical colleges that had been approved in 2014.
 
3. National Digital Library for children and adolescents - Delivering on a major promise when it comes to boosting digital infrastructure, the government has decided to set up a national digital library for children and adolescents. This will help in improving the accessibility of quality books across various locations, languages and devices.
 
"States will be encouraged to set up physical libraries at panchayat and ward levels and provide infrastructure for accessing the national digital library resources," FM said.
 
4. Promoting regional languages- Fulfilling the NEP 2020 objectives, various government publishers such as the National Book Trust, the Children's Book Trust, and other sources would be encouraged to supply books in regional languages as well as in English to the physical libraries that would be set up in the states.
 
 
This move is being made to tackle the massive learning loss that took place due to the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown.
 
5. Teacher recruitment for Tribal schools - The FM said in the next three years, the government will recruit 38,800 teachers support staff for 740 Eklavya model schools, serving 3.5 lakh tribal students.
 
 
6. Centres of Excellence for artificial intelligence- With the growing use of AI apps and technology, FM announced that three top educational institutions would set up Centres of Excellence for artificial intelligence which would help in realising the vision of 'Make AI in India and Make AI Work for India'.
 
7. Labs in engineering institutions for Apps using 5G - The government has announced that 100 labs will be set up in engineering institutions that will work on developing applications using 5G services in collaboration with various authorities, banks, regulators and other businesses.
 
 
The applications that will be covered will include smart classrooms, intelligent transport system, precision farming, and healthcare applications to utilise the new technological opportunities coming in with the prospect of fresh business models and potential jobs.
 
8. Facilities in select ICMR labs to be made available for research by public and private medical college faculty. Apart from this, the government is planning to introduce new program to promote research and innovation in pharmaceuticals to be taken up through centers of excellence.
 
 
9. Mission Karma Yogi - The government launched an integrated online training platform for continuous learning opportunities and upskilling of government employees. Capacity-building plans for civil servants are also being implemented by the centre and states under Mission Karma Yogi.
 
10. Multidisciplinary course for medical devices - Taking into account the rapidly changing technology in all fields, the government is planning to start a multidisciplinary course for medical devices so that skilled personnel may be developed to operate, research on, and manufacture the highly advanced medical technology of the future.
 
11. PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0 - Recognising the need for new-age skills for industry 4.0, the PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0, which is a skill development initiative scheme for recognition and standardisation of skills, is being levelled up.
Indian youth will get access to courses that can skill them in coding, robotics, drones, mechatronics, IoT, 3D printing, and essential soft skills so that they are ready for the global job industry. Academia-industry partnerships will also get more focus.
12. Skill India digital platform: FM Sitharaman proposed the launch of a unified Skill India digital platform which will focus on formal skilling as per demands, will provide access to entrepreneurship schemes, and also link job-seekers with employers, including MSMEs.
 
To prepare the youth with skills needed for international jobs, 30 Skill Indian International Centres will be set up across various states.
 
A direct benefit transfer under a pan-India national apprenticeship promotion scheme will also be introduced in order to support 47 lakh youths in 3 years with a stipend.
 
13. Research grant - A research grant will be provided to one of the IITs for five years to encourage the indigenous production of lab-grown diamonds which is a technology, innovation and energy-driven sector with high job prospects. "Lab-grown diamonds is a technology and innovation-driven energy-driven sector with high employment potential," the FM said.
 
14. National Institute of Securities Markets - Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, "SEBI will be empowered to develop, regulate, maintain and enforce norms and standards for education in the National Institute of Securities Markets and to recognize award of degrees, diplomas and certificates".
 
Globally, Sebi-run NISM is one of the largest financial market certifying institutions, issuing over 20 programme certificates covering various critical market functions such as sales, advice, operations and compliance across financial market products such as equities, derivatives of equity, currency, interest rates and commodities, mutual funds and pensions.
education education budget Education Ministry Union Budget 2023 Union Budget Budget 2023