Decline in budget outlays for IITs, IIMs

New Delhi: There has been a decline in budget outlays for IITs, IIMs, IISER, and statutory and regulatory bodies such as UGC and AICTE in the interim budget for 2019-20 as compared to the allocation for 2018-19.

This comes at a time the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has said it will implement 10 per cent reservation for economically weaker sections of the general category from the 2019 academic session and has directed to increase around 25 per cent seats in higher educational institutions and universities across the country.

The budget outlay for the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) was Rs 415.41 crore, a massive decline of 59.9 per cent from last fiscal's allocation of Rs 1,036 crore.

The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) have been allocated Rs 6,223.02 crore as against Rs 6,326 crore in 2018-19. The IITs also saw a budget cut in the last fiscal from Rs 8,337.21 crore in 2017-18 to Rs 6,326 crore in 2018-19.

The outlay for the University Grants Commission (UGC) is Rs 4,600.66 in the budget, a decrease from Rs 4,722.75 crore in 2018-19. The outlay for the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is Rs 466 crore as against Rs 485 in 2018-19. 

In all, the budget outlay for statutory bodies saw a decline of 2.70 per cent from the last fiscal. In 2019-20, the budget outlay for the bodies is Rs 5,066.66 crore as opposed to last fiscal's figure of Rs 5,207.75 crore.

The budget outlay for the Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (IISERs) also saw a decline in 2019-20 interim budget to Rs 660 crore from 2018-19's allocation of Rs 689 crore.