Meanwhile, govt has another 'quota' deadline to meet

The government, which is struggling to come to grips with the deadline fixed by the Supreme Court to deal with the mess surrounding the reservations for OBCs in higher education, has another deadline that is precariously close.

The National Advisory Council (NAC) had in March asked the government to draw a road map within three months to progressively increase expenditure on education to at least 6 per cent of the GDP over the next Plan period and to come with a central law on Right to Education.

In a letter dated March 8, it says the road map is to include measures to assure contributions from the Union government and from the state governments.

The government has a week to do this.

The allocation of 6 per cent of GDP to education was one of the promises made in the National Common Minimum Programme of the UPA government. The allocation is also linked with its responsibility of implementing the yet to be tabled Free and Compulsory Education Bill.

The Bill, which was re-drafted almost a year ago by the present government, has been gathering dust. The NAC reminder comes in this context.

The 6 per cent allocation would incur an estimated annual expenditure that would be double of what is incurred now, according to experts who were involved with the drafting of the Bill.

The NAC says in its communication dated March 8: "The NCMP commitment of increasing the expenditure on education to 6 per cent of the GDP, in a phased manner, needs to be systematically planned, announced and implemented. In regard to the Fundamental Right to Education, a Central legislation, embodying a broad framework which defines the compulsions on the State, needs to be put in place; it is also necessary to reform the education system to make it outcome-oriented, effective and efficient, while ensuring that the financial commitments of the Union and state governments are legally defined. The Government of India has been advised that these issues may be looked into expeditiously.''

In a detailed explanatory note, the NAC says that of the 6 per cent allocation, at least half is to be spent on primary and secondary education. The present expenditure on elementary education stands at about 1.78 per cent of the GDP, the NAC letter says, adding, "Increasing expenditure on education should go hand in hand with improved outcome and quality orientation, performance measurement, increased effectiveness, better efficiency and greater equity. The requisite exercises to effectively address these issues need to be initiated at different levels as early as possible."

In the context of questions raised about the feasibility of reservations, Central Advisory Board for Education member Vinod Raina said recently that the allocation of 6 per cent of the GDP for education alone would enable massive expansion of higher education, making reservations extremely possible.

According to Raina, 6 per cent of GDP would mean Rs 1,82,206 crore, and a mere one per cent of it for technical/higher education would mean a whopping 16,000 crore, which is 20 times the expense government makes today.

"The government is now considering an amount of Rs 10,000 crore to tide over the crisis of providing seats for the OBCs, without creating a seats crunch for the general category. With Rs 16,000 crore, the country could think of at least 90 IITs and 3,000 universities," Raina said.