Government Expenditure on Education in India

During the Financial Year 2011-12, the Central Government of India has allocated ₹ 38,957 crore for the Department of School Education and Literacy which is the main department dealing with primary education in India. Within this allocation, major share of ₹ 21,000 crore, is for the flagship programme 'Sarva Siksha Abhiyan'. However, budgetary allocation of ₹ 21,000 crore is considered very low in view of the officially appointed Anil Bordia Committee recommendation of ₹ 35,659 for the year 2011-12. This higher allocation was required to implement the recent legislation 'Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. In recent times, several major announcements were made for developing the poor state of affairs in education sector in India, the most notable ones being the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP) of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. The announcements are; (a) To progressively increase expenditure on education to around 6% of GDP. (b) To support this increase in expenditure on education, and to increase the quality of education, there would be an imposition of an education cess over all central government taxes. (c) To ensure that no one is denied of education due to economic backwardness and poverty. (d) To make right to education a fundamental right for all children in the age group 6-14 years. (e) To universalise education through its flagship programmes such as Sarva Siksha Abhiyan and Mid-Day Meal.

However, even after five years of implementation of NCMP, not much progress has been seen on this front. Although the country targeted towards devoting 6% share of the GDP towards the educational sector, the performance has definitely fallen short of expectations. Expenditure on education has steadily risen from 0.64% of GDP in 1951-52 to 2.31% in 1970-71 and thereafter reached the peak of 4.26% in 2000-01. However, it declined to 3.49% in 2004-05. There is a definite need to step-up again. As a proportion of total government expenditure, it has declined from around 11.1% in 2000-2001 to around 9.98% during UPA rule, even though ideally it should be around 20% of the total budget. A policy brief issued by Network for Social Accountability (NSA) titled "NSA Response to Education Sector Interventions in Union Budget: UPA Rule and the Education Sector " provides significant revelation to this fact. Due to a declining priority of education in the public policy paradigm in India, there has been an exponential growth in the private expenditure on education also. As per the available information, the private out of pocket expenditure by the working class population for the education of their children in India has increased by around 1150 percent or around 12.5 times over the last decade.

Legislative framework
Article 45, of the Constitution of India originally stated:
The State shall endeavour to provide, within a period of ten years from the commencement of this Constitution, for free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years.

This article was a directive principle of state policy within India, effectively meaning that it was within a set of rules that were meant to be followed in spirit and the government could not be held to court if the actual letter was not followed. However, the enforcement of this directive principle became a matter of debate since this principle held obvious emotive and practical value, and was legally the only directive principle within the Indian constitution to have a time limit.

Following initiatives by the Supreme Court of India during the 1990s the 93rd amendment bill suggested three separate amendments to the Indian constitution:

The constitution of India was amended to include a new article, 21A, which read:
The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years in a such manner as the State may, by law, determine.
Article 45 was proposed to be substituted by the article which read:
Provision for early childhood care and education to children below the age of six years: The State shall endeavour to provide early childhood care and education for all children until they complete the age of sixteen years.
Another article, 51A, was to additionally have the clause:
...a parent or guardian shall provide opportunities for education to his child or, as the case may be, a ward between the age of six to fourteen years.

The bill was passed unanimously in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian parliament, on 28 November 2001. It was later passed by the upper house--the Rajya Sabha--on 14 May 2002. After being signed by the President of India the Indian constitution was amended formally for the eighty sixth time and the bill came into effect. Since then those between the age of 6-14 have a fundamental right to education.

Article 46 of the Constitution of India holds that:
The State shall promote, with special care, the education and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people, and in particular of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of social exploitation'.

Other provisions for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes can be found in Articles 330, 332, 335, 338-342. Both the 5th and the 6th Schedules of the Constitution also make special provisions for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.