Education gets lion's share

NEW DELHI: On Thursday, for the third consecutive time, the Delhi government gave a lion's share of the Delhi Budget to the education sector, allocating Rs 13,997 crore – amounting to 26 per cent of the total Budget – for the 2018-2019 fiscal.

In the 2017-2018 Budget, 23.5 per cent of the total Budget amount was allocated to education sector.

This time around, Rs 6,019 crore has been earmarked for implementation of various schemes and projects. This amount is 95 per cent higher than the Revised Estimates of Rs 3,083 crore in 2017-18 and 70 per cent higher than the Budget Estimates of Rs 3,525 crore.

The government has proposed to construct 12,748 additional classrooms and 30 new school buildings, and set up of nursery classes in 366 Sarvodaya schools.

It has also proposed construction of a new campus of Ambedkar University at Rohini and Dhirpur in 2019.

The government has decided to replicate the Skill India model by setting up 25 new World Class Skill Development centres in the Capital, with the aim to train 25,000 youth per year.

An outlay of Rs 315 crore has been proposed for 2018-19 to set up of the 25 World Class Skill centres, while Rs 85 crore has also been proposed to construct the campus of a World Class Skill Development Centre at Jaunpur at a total cost of Rs 254 crore, which was approved by the government in December 2017.

Self-defence training for girl students, promotion of sports in schools and setting up of a world-class skill centre are among the big-ticket promises made by the AAP government in Thursday's Budget proposal.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds the Education portfolio, said Rs 175 crore will be allocated for installation of 1.2 lakh CCTV cameras in school buildings.

He further said, "The government has allocated Rs 10 crore for self-defence training of girl students in Delhi and Rs 20 crore for promotion of sports in schools."