The Student Islamic organization of India (SIO) here on Thursday termed the budget brought by the central government as a bias and prejudice towards minorities.
Dr. Roshan Mohiddin, National Secretary, Students Islamic Organization of India (SIO) objected over the budget for education presented by the central government neglects to address the critical issues of equitable development and fails to meet the needs of marginalized communities.
He said that It also fails to fulfill the significant gaps in knowledge created by the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused extended school and college closures, making the past few years challenging for students across the nation
“It is appreciated that there was an increment in the education budget, but it was less than the Kothari commission and NEP 2020’s recommendation of allocating 6% of GDP to the education budget. Since 2019, the GDP proportion of education has been unchanged at 2.9%. However, the government actually spent less on education during the last two fiscal years than it had anticipated,’’ pointed out, Dr. Roshan Mohiuddin.
He drew attention towards minority education scholarships saying that there was a massive cut of funds in merit-cum means scholarships from 365 to 44 crores, showing a callous attitude even after dropping the pre-metric and MANF scholarships.
“This was an onslaught on education and the dignity of minorities. After allocating Rs 900 crores for pre-metric scholarships in the previous budget and then cancelling them, it demonstrates a bias against minorities. The whopping cut of funds to Madrasas from previous budgets shows the clear agenda of the government towards minorities and their upliftment in terms of education,’’ said, SIO, National Secretary.
The SIO in its reactions further said that budget for skill development programmes like USTTAD and Nai Manzil declined from crores to a mere amount of Rs 10 lakh. The budget allocated for research programmes and free coaching for minorities also saw a drop of 50% from the previous budget, which shows the apathetic behaviour of the government.
“SIO believes that the minority education budget is a clear injustice to minorities and that the central government has taken no stand for its upliftment. This myopic vision doesn’t bode well for the equitable development of the country,’’ added. Dr. Roshan Mohiddin, National Secretary, Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIO)