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Union Budget 2022–23
The Union Budget 2022–23 proposes a step forward towards the implementation of the National Education Policy 2020 by invoking the increased use of information and communications technology as a policy instrument to repurpose education towards skill formation and to globalise Indian higher education.
The Union Budget 2022–23 has not foregrounded investment in the social sector to achieve higher growth, which could ensure dignity for the people in the long run. The impact of physical investment is direct and immediate on growth and arguably on employment generation. The Economic Survey 2021–22 points out that the union and the states combined spend around 3.1% of the gross domestic product (GDP), which may actually fall once the revised estimates (RE) for 2020–21 and the budget estimates (BE) for 2021–22 are finalised in view of the severe fiscal constraint being faced by the states in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. The total public expenditure in education is expected to decline by 1 percentage point as a proportion of the total expenditure, from 10.7% in 2019–20 to 9.7% in 2021–22 as per the BE.
It is being projected that the budgetary allocation for education for 2022–23 at `1.04 lakh crore exceeded the benchmark figure of `1 lakh crore for the first time. It marks an increase of nearly 12% over the BE for 2021–22. This is to be achieved by an increase of 15.6% for school education and a mere 6.46% hike for higher education. Understandably, there is likely to be a decline to the tune of 5.3% and 6.0% for school and higher education, respectively, by the end of this financial year as per the RE for 2021–22 over the BE.
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