Modi Budget 2.0: HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank to outline govt's plan on education reforms

As Centre plans to open more Navodaya Schools, bring all panchayats on the optical fibre network and increase seats in higher institutions by 50 per cent, under the new National Education Policy (NEP), Union Minister of Human Resource Development Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank on Saturday will share the Modi 2.0 government's new roadmap to bring in a major transform to the Indian educational system. Pokhriyal will be speaking on News Nation’s exclusive ‘Modi Budget 2.0’ Sammelan on Saturday.

In its Budget for the current fiscal, the Centre on Friday earmarked Rs 94,853.64 crore outlay for the education sector, an increase of over 13 per cent from the revised estimates of 2018-19 financial year. While a sum of Rs 38,317.01 crore has been set aside for higher education, Rs 56,536.63 crore has been earmarked for school education.

The government has also made available Rs 30,000 crore using the Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) funding mechanism. The outlay for the University Grants Commission saw a decline as compared to 2018-19. A total amount of Rs 4,600.66 crore has been allocated for the UGC, as against the revised estimate of Rs 4,687.23 crore in 2018-19. The initial outlay was Rs 4,722.75 crore.

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The budget outlay for Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) is Rs 6,409.95 crore, while it is Rs 445.53 crore for the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and Rs 899.22 crore for the Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (IISERs). The Centre also allocated Rs 400 crore for setting up world-class education institutes and announced 'Study in India' programme aimed at attracting foreign students to the country.

Presenting her maiden Budget at Parliament, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government will bring in a new national education policy to transform India's higher education system into one of the best in the world.

Who is Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank?

In last May, Pokhriyal took charge of the HRD Ministry with the senior ministry officials handing him over the draft of the much-awaited National Education Policy (NEP). Nishank, a PhD from Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna University in Garhwal, has authored over 35 books.

Pokhriyal, who also served as the Uttarakhand chief minister between June 2009 and September 2011, was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 2014 from Haridwar constituency. He has retained the seat, emerging victorious in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls for the second consecutive time.