Modi government reduced the education budget
Kunal Pathak July 26,2024
Malcolm X used to say that “education is the passport to the future”, but the attitude of the Modi government and the courts towards the Union Budget 2024-25 and examinations seems to indicate that the ‘passports’ of students in India are being cancelled in large numbers. The seriousness of the central government regarding education and examinations is doubtful. The Modi government sitting at the center has cut the education budget of 2024-25 by more than 7% compared to last year. In addition, the budget of higher education has been cut by more than 16%. The budget of the University Grants Commission, the institution responsible for university education, has been cut by more than 60%. In a country where 25 crore youth of 10-19 years are living, the budget of education cannot be reduced even by a rupee. The Modi government has not reduced the budget of education, in fact it has reduced the budget of ‘India’s future’. Such indifference towards education should come under the purview of ‘crime’. The government is not only reducing the education budget but is also seen hijacking all the aspects of education. One of these aspects is the opaque and discriminatory conduct of competitive examinations. If we look at the last few years, many national and state level examinations have fallen prey to paper leaks. But on July 22, while answering a question of an MP in the Lok Sabha, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan claimed in the Lok Sabha that “I want to say before the House with full responsibility that there is no evidence of paper leak in the last seven years.” Pradhan is a senior member of Parliament, he is also well aware of the proceedings of Parliament, he knows that the government cannot lie in front of Parliament. If a minister lies, a ‘privilege motion’ can be brought against him. If the figures and reports are to be believed, a motion should be brought against the minister. If we do not talk about the examinations across the country, focus only on those examinations whose conduct is completely in the hands of the central government, then the first lie of the minister should be linked to the recently leaked UGC-NET 2024. This NET exam was conducted by NTA on June 18. Immediately the news of the leak of this exam came out. The very next day the government had to cancel this exam. UGC said that the ‘integrity of the examination has been compromised’. On June 20 Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan himself admitted that some questions have been ‘leaked’ and the matter has been sent for CBI investigation. My question is, doesn’t the UGC-NET 2024 paper leak fall under the 7-year limit of the Education Minister?
The solution cannot be found by closing eyes and denying the problem. Denying every failure of the government out of fear of electoral defeat is a betrayal of India’s future. In Parliament, leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav have underlined the helplessness of the central government. Expressing concern over the increasing paper leaks at an unending pace and the loss being suffered by crores of ordinary students, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi said, “Millions of people believe that if you are rich, you can buy the Indian examination system”. The way a few people are getting the papers leaked with the power of money and are successful in getting their children admitted in government institutions, Rahul Gandhi’s concern seems justified. Rahul Gandhi further said that it is not just about NEET; the entire examination system is at stake. Students are very worried and they feel that “the Indian examination system is a fraud” and nothing else. Instead of finding a solution, the minister has started blaming “everyone except himself”.
