Capital investment outlays are being boosted substantially by 33% to Rs 10 lakh crore, or 3.3% of GDP, which will be almost three times the outlay made in 2019, the finance minister says in her budget speech. India’s total score of 0.4935 (between 0 and 1), which was lower than Nepal (0.5046) and Sri Lanka but higher than the South Asia region average of 0.48 and lower middle-income countries (0.48), placed it at 112th on the 2020 human capital index (0.5903).
Given that the nation’s uneven growth and rising inequality have been attributed to the nation’s backward human resources, the severity of missing this Pole Star can be assessed.
Source: Lytton AdvisoryThe Ministry of Education has much to celebrate for the advancement of humanity with the highest allocation ever of Rs. 1.13 lakh crore. It’s interesting to note that autonomous entities will spend Rs 14,391.36 crore in 2023u201324. This is a time when the nation’s education system is plagued by inequality and unequal access to high-quality education. The most important centres of education, which are state-funded, locally run, and yet experience language exclusion, caste discrimination, and other forms of discrimination based on geography, caste, and religion, are left out as funding for centrally sourced independent organisations of education.
In India’s higher education system, where a gap is now evident across institutions and also between specialties, the vicious cycle of inequality and prejudice is much worse.
When funding for IITs and NITS increases, their performance improves, and employers prefer hiring graduates from these institutions, graduates from other institutions are left behind, widening the salary disparity even among technically qualified individuals.
Source: Study IQ IASHarping on the accomplishments of a few institutions in the nation does little to address the issue of human capital, and the same is true for the nation’s health. We should be moving in the direction of improved human capital production, which will be advantageous for the country over the long term and with cumulative returns, as the polar star and not the Saptarishi are employed to identify the right way. First, we may include a separate area for human capital budget with well-defined objectives to be met over time in the yearly financial statement. This component could encompass education, health, and other dimensions.
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