Struggle against slender resources

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, June 20

Increased grants for universities, Rs 21 crore for building basic infrastructure for government schools, Rs 10 crore for buying computers in primary schools and a proposed horticulture university. 

The “Pardho Punjab, Pardhao Punjab” campaign and announcement of a new education policy draft depicts the state government’s intentions of reforming the education sector. 

The budget, presented today, kept the social and the education sector as a priority while giving importance to building and upgrading infrastructure of the existing educational institutions. We talk to economists and educationists on their take on the Punjab budget. 

Prof SS Chinna, senior fellow, Indian Council for Social Science

I would say that the budget is a struggle against constraints of limited resources that the present government is dealing with. It depicts a picture of the efforts being made by the government to generate revenue and invest money to upgrade infrastructure, keeping in mind the stability factor. The proposed horticulture university will be a big positive for the diversification of agriculture, but nothing has been done for the industrial sector. The Rs 300 amount for the border area farmers seems too small for their prosperity. All in all, it’s a subtle attempt at redemption. 

Prof Kuldeep Kaur, head, School of Social Sciences, GNDU

As an economist and an educationist, I believe the social sector has been given priority, which is good news. 

As for the education sector, free education for girls up to primary level and the proposed Rs 10 crore in the budget to provide smart mobile phones to the youth and setting up of a skill-development university will definitely be counted as progressive steps towards building quality education. 

But upgrading existing institutions and faculty training should be treated as priorities. Lack of employability of youth is also a big challenge to overcome and it is to be seen now that the government puts words into action. 

Mandeep Kaur, principal, Government Senior Secondary School, Mall Road 

Initiatives like Rs 10 crore for computers in government schools and Rs 21 crore for setting up basic infrastructure in schools are welcome. The announcement of a new education policy to be drafted shows the government’s concern towards reforming the education sector. 

Instead of freebies like free education, the government should focus on building skill-development centres for the  youth. Now the effort should be on implementation and we hope progressive development happens in coming years in the education sector. 

New education policy draft augurs well

• The “Pardho Punjab, Pardhao Punjab” campaign and announcement of a new education policy draft depicts the state government's intentions of reforming the education sector. 
• The budget, presented on Tuesday, kept the social and the education sector as a priority while giving importance to building and upgrading infrastructure of the existing educational institutions.