Finance
By: Shree1news, 23 FEB 2021
BHUBANESWAR: Education and skill development has received the highest allocation within the Budget for 2021-22 fiscal with the State government earmarking a whopping Rs 24,370 crore with a major thrust on holistic development of schools, colleges and skill training institutes. The budget for education sector this fiscal will focus on imparting quality education and providing employable skills, stated School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash.
An allocation of Rs 253 crore has been made under Mo School programme, six times more than the earlier fiscal. Considering the success of Mo School campaign, the State government has additionally allotted Rs 7 crore for the Mo School Abhiyan which will be launched in March.
Other than these two programmes, focus has additionally been given on Samagra Sikshya for which, Rs 3,066 crore has been allotted to enhance high quality of education, learning outcomes and encourage use of expertise to empower children and teachers.
The allocation for Odisha Adarsha Vidyalaya, however, has been reduced. Around Rs 280 crore has been allotted under this head towards previous year’s Rs 400 crore. The government has additionally allotted Rs 957 crore for mid-day meal scheme in schools at elementary level.
An outlay of Rs 10 crore has been made for Odia University at Satyabadi. The infrastructure development funds for higher education has been pegged at Rs 157 crore, whereas the provision made under RUSA stays at Rs 212 crore. An amount of Rs 46 crore has been allotted for laptop distribution amongst meritorious students.
Department wise, budget provision of Rs 18.279 crore has been made for the SME department, whereas Rs 2,416.63 crore is allotted for Higher Education department and Rs 664 crore for Skill Development and Technical Education department.
Source:A-N
