Wednesday, 11 March 2020

Fund allocation for madrasas witnesses drop

Key Facts

  • Government spending on improving education at madrasas has dropped drastically after the States were asked to pitch in with funding, said a parliamentary panel, slamming the “disturbing trend” which hurts children from the most educationally backward communities.
  • After the change in funding ratios, only 15% of the allocated money was used last year. With just over a month left in this financial year, only about half the funds had been spent. The Centre intends to hike allocations more than 80% next year, despite the low utilization in the last two years.
  • The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resource Development, which submitted its report on demand for grants in 2020-­21 to the Rajya Sabha last week, expressed concern that the School Education department has not used the allocated funds for providing education to madrasas over the past three years. 
  • Over the last three years, the Centre’s annual budget has allocated ₹120 crores for the scheme.
  • In 2018-­19, funding for the larger component of the scheme was changed from a 100% Central grant into a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with a 60:40 split between Central and State funding.
  • Only ₹18.25 crore was actually spent that year. In 2019­20, the expenditure under the scheme was ₹63.57 crores as on February 10, 2019, just above half of the allocated amount. With over a month to go, the Centre hoped that the final expenditure would be higher, it told the panel
Daily Current Affairs 11 March 2020 | UPSC Current Affairs 2020 Daily News Teller

Source: The Hindu

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