HARYANA BUDGET 2012-13

HARYANA BUDGETEducation gets major thrust, allocated Rs 8245.58 crore Geetanjali Gayatri/TNS

Chandigarh, March 5
The Haryana Government’s priorities for the new year seem evident given the sectoral allocations in the Budget where education and creation of new infrastructure have emerged as the hub around which funds will essentially revolve.
Education alone, both higher and secondary, has emerged as the single most important sector to watch out for, bagging an allocation of Rs 8245.58 crore for 2012-13 which is Rs 1369.59 crore higher than the allocation in the current year.

The government hopes to help the cause of education by opening four new government colleges at Bawani Khera (Bhiwani), Salaheri (Mewat), Palwal and Ratia (Fathehabad) during the next academic session.
Also with an eye on boosting girls’ education, the government plans to establish 27 new residential school for girls under the “Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya Scheme” and cover all 36 Economically Backward Blocks (EBB). This will be in addition to establishing a girls’ hostel near Aarohi Model School in each of the EBBs. A proposal to establish a National Law University in the Rajiv Gandhi Education City for which 25 acres of land has been allotted, is also on the cards.
The seats in sought-after courses like computer science, economics and commerce are slated to go up given the growing demand for these while the creation of 9,545 additional posts and recruitment of post-graduate teachers through the Haryana School Teacher Selection Board to teach Classes XI to XII is on the anvil.
With science, maths and commerce subjects proving to be the weak point of students from rural areas, the government plans to open 15 kisan model schools in six districts to brush up their knowledge of the subjects. Besides, non-air conditioned buses of private schools will now be exempted from payment of passenger tax.
The government intends to construct five new polytechnics, introduce new short-term programmes like retailing, BPOs, travel and tourism, setting up 22 new government industrial training institutes. The sector has an allocation of Rs 307.55 crore, which is Rs 85.08 crore higher than that of the current year.
Besides education, the government is paying attention to public health, too, focusing on augmentation of drinking water projects and sewerage schemes, getting Rs 2212.64 crore for 2012-13, up by Rs 312.33 crore over the current year. The roads and transport sector, too, has bagged a hike of Rs 312.45 crore over the current year’s allocation, to not only provide smooth roads but also to provide better public transport.
If allocation to agrarian Haryana and the allied sectors, including live-stock rearing, has been increased by Rs 107.58 crore for 2012-13, the social justice and empowerment sector, too, has been given a substantial hike. Against Rs 2593.29 crore under the Scheduled Caste Sub Plan, Rs 2807.74 crore has been proposed. Besides, the social justice and empowerment sector gets an additional allocation of Rs 2029.79 cr.