Requirement of funds for NEP implementation to be estimated after policy is finalised: HRD Minister

NEW DELHI: The requirement of funds for implementation of the New Education Policy (NEP) will be estimated after finalisation of the policy, Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ said on Thursday.

The government is in process of giving final shape to the policy. Various states have flagged the funding issues regarding the proposed NEP by the Union HRD Ministry, saying the draft has some good proposals but no “financial plan of action for implementation.”

“The requirement of funds would be estimated after finalisation of the Policy. Government is committed to implement the Policy by making suitable budgetary allocations,” Nishank said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.

A panel led by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chief K Kasturirangan had submitted the draft of the new National Education Policy (NEP) to Nishank when he took charge.

The draft was then put in public domain to seek feedback from various stakeholders and over two lakh suggestions were received by the HRD Ministry about the same.

The existing NEP was framed in 1986 and revised in 1992. A new education policy was part of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s manifesto ahead of the 2014 general election.

The drafting experts also took into account the report of a panel headed by former cabinet secretary T S R Subramanian and formed by the HRD Ministry when it was being headed by Smriti Irani. (AGENCIES)