May 28 2014 : The Economic Times (Delhi)
6% of GDP to be Spent on Education: Irani
NEW DELHI
OUR BUREAU
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Taking charge as minister for human resource development, Smriti Irani, the youngest member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet, promised to increase public spending on education and review all legislations related to higher education reform that had lapsed with the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha.In keeping with the tone set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Irani stressed that consensus would be the by-word in policy formulation.
“On behalf of the ministry, we have undertaken a study of all the pending Bills in Parliament... all pros and cons of those legislation, and I will only say this instead of mak ing any specific statements right now, we are having ministerial meetings within our department to see what are the initiatives we need to undertake,“ Irani told reporters on Tuesday.
The minister said she was honoured to serve as HRD minister, a post once held by senior party leader Murli Manohar Joshi. “For me, it is not a position of authority but a position of service,“ Irani said. In an effort to assuage concerns over the BJP's approach to the education sector,and conscious of controversial decisions made by the previous NDA government on issues such as curriculum revision, Irani said, “Every decisionthat we reach upon is a decision which comes across through consensus, every per son, every thought process, every stakeholder shall be consulted.“In line with BJP'spoll promise, Irani said the government would increase spending on education to 6% of GDP, a promise that successive governments have failed to keep.
“On behalf of the ministry, we have undertaken a study of all the pending Bills in Parliament... all pros and cons of those legislation, and I will only say this instead of mak ing any specific statements right now, we are having ministerial meetings within our department to see what are the initiatives we need to undertake,“ Irani told reporters on Tuesday.
The minister said she was honoured to serve as HRD minister, a post once held by senior party leader Murli Manohar Joshi. “For me, it is not a position of authority but a position of service,“ Irani said. In an effort to assuage concerns over the BJP's approach to the education sector,and conscious of controversial decisions made by the previous NDA government on issues such as curriculum revision, Irani said, “Every decisionthat we reach upon is a decision which comes across through consensus, every per son, every thought process, every stakeholder shall be consulted.“In line with BJP'spoll promise, Irani said the government would increase spending on education to 6% of GDP, a promise that successive governments have failed to keep.
