Bihar and Chattisgarh among States that allocated more towards education: Among the big States in the country, Chhattisgarh and Bihar allocated the most proportion of their budget towards education in FY23. Bihar allocated 18.3% of its expected net budgetary expenditures to education, compared to Chhattisgarh’s 18.82%.
February 2023 Current Affairs Quiz
The States/UTs that have spent a higher portion of their budget expenditure on education are Delhi, Assam, and Himachal Pradesh, which allocated 22 per cent, 20 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively, of their budgets on education this fiscal year.
Chhattisgarh and Bihar’s Spending and Outcome:
While Chhattisgarh and Bihar are spending more on education, they do not fare too well on literacy. According to the National Sample Survey 2018, Bihar has one of the lowest literacy rates in the nation at 70.9%, compared to Chattisgarh’s score of 77.9%.
States That Allocated Less on Education:
Even in terms of absolute numbers, Telangana’s expenditure towards education was a mere ₹16,043 crore in FY23. As per the Budget for FY24, even though the state has allocated ₹19,093 crore for education, it is just 6.57 per cent of the net budget expenditure. Telangana is among the few states that have presented the budget for the upcoming financial year.
Allocations by the States on Education:
For education, Maharashtra allotted Rs 80,437. Rs 75,165 crores were allotted to UP. West Bengal allocated Rs 43,466 crores. Tamil Nadu received Rs 43,799 crores while Rajasthan received Rs 49,627 crores. The Central Government allocated Rs 44,094 crores on education, that is, 16.51% of the total budget. This is 8% higher than the previous year. In 2022-23, the union government allocated Rs 40,828 crores.
Performance on Literacy Front:
Kerala has the highest literacy percentage in the country at 96.2%, compared to Tamil Nadu’s 82.9%. The literacy rate of UP is 67.68%. The literacy rate of Bihar is 61.8%. The literacy rate of Chhattisgarh is 70.28%. The literacy rate of west Bengal is 76.26%. Rajasthan: 66.11%. So the overall observation says that TN is planning on increasing its literacy rates further though it is already higher.