Primary Education Set To Become A Fundamental Right

In a decision that could have significant repercussions on the countrys human resource development, the Union cabinet yesterday decided to make primary education for children aged between six years and 14 years a fundamental right.

An official spokesman said the government would propose an amendment to the constitution to enforce its decision. The proposed amendment will also make it a fundamental duty of every citizen, who is a parent or guardian, to provide educational opportunities to children who fall in six-14 years age group.

The Cabinet over-rode resistance from the finance ministry and the Planning Commission to announce that Rs 40,000 crore would be spent during the ninth plan (May 1997-2002) to create the necessary infrastructure for implementing its decision.

 

The aggregate expenditure on education by the Centre and the states was Rs 19,000 crore at 1991-92 prices during the eighth plan, of which about half was allocated to primary education. The Planning Commission was expected to allocate about Rs 20,000 crore (at 1996-97 prices) for aggregate expenditure by the Centre and states on primary education during the ninth plan. The Cabinet decision will thus double the proposed expenditure on primary education.

The Centre had originally planned to spend Rs 9,000 crore at 1996-97 prices on primary education during the ninth plan. The Cabinet decision will mean that the Centre will have to incur additional expenditure of Rs 31,000 crore on elementary education in the next five years if it is forced to foot the entire bill.

The states do not have much money for plan expenditure. They will definitely insist that the Centre should bear the entire burden of the new programme. States like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are so far behind in primary education and have so little resources of their own that it will be impossible to plan for drastic changes in the situation, said a finance ministry official.

The current years allocation for the human resource development ministry is Rs 5,240 crore. Of this, Rs 2,300 crore has been allotted to primary education, including Rs 960 crore on the mid-day meal scheme.

Therefore, if the Centre is forced to foot the entire additional expenditure, it will cost the government an additional Rs 5,700 crore per year, since the Cabinet has allocated Rs 8,000 crore per year (Rs 40,000 crore divided over a five-year period) for primary education.

The additional annual expenditure will wipe out 27 per cent of the additional tax revenue of Rs 21,203 crore expected in the current year.

The Cabinet decision is based on the recommendations of a committee headed by minister of state for HRD Mukhi Ram Saikia. The committee, which included the various state education ministers, worked in the light of an earlier Supreme Court judgement and commitments made by the United Front in the common minimum programme.

In 1992, the Supreme Court had ruled that elementary education was a fundamental right. The court noted that the Centre had failed to shift the status of universal primary education from being a directive principle in the Constitution to a fundamental right even after the promised period of 20 years for doing so had lapsed.

The UFs common minimum programme promises to raise expenditure on education to 6 per cent of gross domestic product, as recommended by the Kothari committee in the 1960s.

At present, the total expenditure on education works out to 4 per cent of GDP.

The HRD ministry has estimated that it would cost an additional Rs 100,000 crore to raise the level of expenditure to the promised 6 per cent.