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Free education for girls... without funds?

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition's promise of free education for girls seems destined to remain on paper -- no allocation has been made for the purpose in the government's second budget either.

According to official documents, the scheme has not been put into operation yet as ''its modalities are still being worked out.'' The Union department of education, however, estimates that an allocation of Rs 1.6 billion would be needed to put it into action.

Free education for girls was part of the BJP manifesto and also the ruling coalition's 'national agenda for governance'.

The NAG promised plans to provide free education to girls till college, including in professional courses. This, it said, would be done so as to empower women better. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had also reiterated the promise at various fora.

According to the 1991 census, female literacy in India stood at a woeful 39.2 per cent as against 64.2 per cent for males. In certain areas such as Barmer in Rajasthan, only four per cent of women could read or write.

However, several other education schemes targeting girls are receiving budgetary support. These include non-formal education centres, the Shiksha Karmi project in Rajasthan and the Mahila Samakhya programme. About 180,000 of the 290,000 non-formal education centres are exclusively for girls.

The budgetary outlay for the NFE programme this year is Rs 3.5 billion while it is Rs 190 million for the SKP and Rs 75 million for the Mahila Samakhya.

Among other resolves on education, the ruling coalition had committed itself to the eradication of illiteracy and to gradually increase governmental and non-governmental spending on education to six per cent of the Gross Domestic Product.

''We will implement the constitutional provision of making primary education free and compulsory up to 5th standard,'' the NAG had pronounced.

The plan outlay for education in the 1999-2000 budget has been pegged at Rs 47 billion compared to the revised estimates of Rs 40.44 billion, and the budgetary estimates of 42.44 billion in the previous year.

The lion's share of the plan outlay -- Rs 30.35 billion -- has been allocated for elementary education. Secondary and physical education get Rs 5.58 billion, while university and higher education get Rs 4.45 billion.

Adult education has been allocated Rs 1.10 billion.

UNI

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