Government not spending enough behind education

This article in times of india speaks about gujarat governments spending on "social sector". Now this social sector largely means, education. And, specifically i want to point out the spendings on Higher Education.


Social sector spending in Guj stagnates

Rajiv Shah | TNN

Gandhinagar: While presenting his 16th Budget in the Gujarat state assembly last week,finance minister Vajubhai Vala claimed sustained development by achieving landmark successes in education and health.But,figures speak otherwise.
The proportion of funds spent for the two sectors has stagnated over the last decade.What is equally disturbing is the spending proportion for education and health,11.5 per cent and 3.2 per cent of the Budget for 2009-10,respectively,is lower than most Indian states.
Worse,overall spending on the social sector does not present a rosy picture either.Gujarats per capita spending has been lower than many states over the last five years.During 2005-10,it was Rs 2,773 in Gujarat,which is lower than Andhra Pradesh (Rs 3,155),Chhattisgarh (Rs 3,396),Goa (Rs 7,933),Haryana (3,257),Karnataka (3,081),Kerala (Rs 2,821),Maharashtra (Rs 5,219) and Tamil Nadu (Rs 3,219).Gujarat nearly averages all-India figure for all states Rs 2,735.
These are some of the striking revelations made in Reserve Bank of Indias latest document,State Finances: A study of Budgets of 2009-10 ,released late last month.
Known for its poor all-India ranking in the social sector,the percentage allocation for education is lower than all other states but Andhra Pradeshs (11.1 per cent of the budget).By contrast,all other states,whether rich or poor,have spent a considerable more proportion of the budget on teaching their children.Bihar spent 18.8 per cent of its budget on education,Maharashtra 18.3 per cent and Kerala 17.5 per cent.
Worse,the proportion of spending on education in Gujarat during 2009-10 is one of the lowest since 2000-01,when it topped at 13.6 per cent.In 2007-08,it reached 13.4 per cent,but again went down to 11.6 per cent in 2008-09.Significantly,the RBI study reports that the average spending on education for all 28 Indian states for 2009-10 is 15.1 per cent,which is higher by nearly four percentage points than Gujarats.