While presenting the interim budget on February 1, 2024, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had stated that, “In the full budget in July, our Government will present a detailed roadmap for our pursuit of ‘Viksit Bharat’.” If India does aim to become a developed country by 2047 as per Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Viksit Bharat, the Union Budget 2024 which will be presented on July 23 must prioritise the education of children, who are the future of the country. Read on to find out what experts from the education sector shared with us at Brainfeed about their expectations from the Union Budget 2024.
The Economic Survey 2023-24, which was presented yesterday, highlighted that India needs to be prepared to usher in Industrial Revolution 4.0 through focus on higher Education and Skills. Keeping in line with the philosophy of creating 78.5 lakh jobs annually as enunciated in the Economic survey, the Budget has done commendable job.
Firstly, the budget allocation for Education, employment and skilling has been increased by 30% to Rs 1.48 lakh crores.
Secondly, the budget has introduced e-vouchers for Education loans to increase GER in Higher Education which presently stands at 28%.
Thirdly, only 4.4% of youths in age group 15-29 years have received formal training. Accordingly, Budget has introduced Revised Model Skill loan scheme to improve skill sets of youths.
Fourthly, Budget has proposed setting up working women’s hostels to increase female LFPR which stands at around 37% as compared to Male LFPR of 78%.
Lastly, according to study done by Takshashila Institution, Employment Elasticity in India has fallen below 0.1. Accordingly, Budget has introduced Employment linked incentive scheme on the lines of Production linked incentive scheme to boost Job creation.
Overall, the Budget announcements are in the right direction in ensuring that Human Capital Formation remains both means as well as ends of Viksit Bharat by 2047
