Education budget downsized by 20 per cent in TS

The announcement to downsize the 2021-22 state budget by 20 per cent could prove to be bad news for the education sector, experts suspect. The decision was taken owing to the strained economy in the state after revenue losses of over Rs. 50,000 crore due to the lockdown.

Experts say that like several years, this budget too is likely to neglect the education sector once again. "The cutting down of the budget by 20% means cutting down on education even more. The government has ignored education, specifically school education for a long time now. We won't be surprised if we take the hit again", said Chava Ravi, General Secretary, Telangana State United Teachers' Front (TSUTF).

Similar sentiments were echoed by the Centre for Education Services (CESS) Chairman, Nagati Narayana, saying that the first victim of this budget downsizing may be the education sector. "Since 2014-15 the education sector has continuously declined. The KCR government needs to realise that they have a responsibility towards not just the government funded schools, but also the residential schools in the state, that are already feeling strained due to the shift to online education and a long break from physical classes", he said.

The government's state budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year had allocated just 6.69% of the total outlay to the education sector, making it the state’s lowest ever in terms of percentage. Of the projected outlay of nearly Rs 1.83 lakh crore, just Rs 12,144 crore has been set aside for the education sector in the 2020-21 budget, whereas in 2019-20, the education budget allocation was Rs 12,220 crore, or 6.76% of the total budget.

The state has seen a consistent decline in education budget allocation ever since its formation in 2014. While in the 2014-15 state budget, the education budget accounted for 10.89 per cent of the total  Rs.1,00,637 crores, in 2015-16, it came down to 9.69 per cent. In 2016-17, it was further cut down to 8.23 per cent, 8,49 per cent in 2017-18, a major drop to 7.61 per cent in 2018-19, 6.76 per cent in 2019-20 budget and finally in 2020-21, it came down to just 6.69 per cent.

There has been no comment on the possible impact of this development from the ministry or state department of education. A senior official in the education department however said that the chief minister is in talks with all departments and will take a financial decision for the state. They further added that it was not possible for them to speculate on the matter.