Centre's silence on RTE expenses sharing flayed

The BJP government in Karnataka on Monday condemned what it called the “apathy” by the Centre towards sharing the expenditure involved in implementing the RTE act and urged to refund the cost as early as possible.

“Karnataka has been requesting the Centre to share the cost of RTE Act implementation. But so far there is no response,” state’s Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Vishweswara Hegde Kageri told reporters here. Karnataka has reimbursed Rs 27 crore to private educational institutions.

At least 50,000 students have been admitted under the Act which mandates that 25 per cent quota of seats would go to underprivileged. Another Rs 27 crore need to be paid to these institutions, he added. “The Centre insisted on implementing RTE. It is not sufficient if law is enacted and thrust on states. The Centre should also share the financial burden in implementing the laws,” he said.

The state government cannot bear the massive expenditure involved in RTE implementation, Kageri said. “This year 50,000 students have got seats in private educational institutions. If the state implements next year, the number of admissions are likely to touch 100,000. The expenditure might touch Rs 1,000 crore,” he noted.

The state has displayed commitment towards implementing RTE, he said and demanded that Centre also prove its commitment. Kageri said the state has drawn up a host of programmes to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda in its schools and colleges from January 7 to 12.

About 11 million school children in 70,000 schools will take part in these programmes, he said.