More medical colleges will be set up and a committee will be formed to examine this purpose, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said during the Interim Budget 2024 speech. “Our government plans to set up more medical colleges by utilising the existing hospital infrastructure under various departments. A committee for this purpose will be set up to examine the issues and make relevant recomendations,” she said.
Apart from medical colleges, for the education sector, Sitharaman said that there are plans for the “upgradation of aanganwadi centres” as well.
Around 1.4 crore youth have been trained under the Skill India Mission and 3000 new ITIs have been established, the minister said. Several new IITs and IIMs too have been set up. “The Skill India Mission has trained 1.4 crore youth, upskilled and re-skilled 54 lakh youth, and established 3000 new ITIs. A large number of institutional higher learning, namely 7 IITs, 16 IIITs, 7 IIMs, 15 AIIMS and 390 Universities have been set up,” she said.
She further added that female enrollment in higher education has gone up by 28 per cent. “Female enrolment in higher education up by 28 per cent in 10 years, in STEM courses, girls and women make 43 per cent of enrolment, one of the highest in the world. All these steps are reflected in the increasing participation of women in the workforce,” Sitharaman said.
The interim budget is a temporary financial plan presented by the government as it doesn’t have the mandate to present a full budget due to the elections and till a new government is formed.
In the Union Budget 2023, the centre’s allocation for the education sector was Rs 1,12,898.97 crore, which was the highest allocation granted to the Ministry of Education ever. The school education department was allocated Rs 68,804.85 crore, while the higher education department was allocated Rs 44,094.62 crore.
— with ANI inputs
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