Free girl education, promised by CM Captain Amarinder Singh, finds no mention in Punjab Budget

The budgetary speech of Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, however, revealed allocation to various schemes announced by CM Amarinder Singh, but it made no mention to free education for girls.

Amritsar, June 21: On the budget eve, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh promised free education for girls from nursery to the doctorate level in government institutes, but the populist measure found no mention in the state budget. The budgetary speech of Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, however, revealed allocation to various schemes announced by CM Amarinder Singh, but it made no mention to free education for girls.

Speaking on the conclusion of the governor’s address in the Vidhan Sabha, CM Captain Amarinder Singh made several announcement which included free education for girls from nursery to the doctorate level in government institutes. Following the announcement, Congress-led Punjab government was lauded for promoting girls education. However, when the Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal presented the budget, he didn’t mention anything about free education for girls. (ALSO READ: Punjab govt defends smartphones for youth scheme)

The Punjab Budget 2017-18 emphasised on creating and upgrading basic infrastructure in government educational institutes. It allocated Rs 36 crore to ensure furniture, green boards and computers in every primary school. Rs 15 crore have been allocated for setting up new colleges in backward areas and Rs 10 crore to revive old colleges in the state. To give impetus to quality education, the best schools would be announced in primary, middle, high and senior secondary categories in every block and Rs 9.27 crore have been allocated for the purpose.

A sum of Rs 5 crore has been kept for central state library, Patiala which would be utilised for an e-library besides infrastructural needs. The grants for Panjab University, Chandigarh, have been increased from Rs 26 crore to Rs 33 crore for 2017-18. The government also also announced provision of free internet in all 48 government colleges.