In a bid to promote Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and digital initiatives in India, the Ministry of Education has announced an estimated outlay of Rs 1,775 crore for all states and Union Territories (UTs) for the year 2022-23.
As per the estimates, the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) would get the highest share at Rs 461 crore, data presented in the Lok Sabha by Minister of State (MoS) Annpurna Devi shows.
The government would further spend around Rs 133 crore on teachers training under its flagship scheme Samagra Shiksha aimed at universalisation of education and enhancing learning outcomes, the minister claimed.
“To facilitate online education, a comprehensive initiative called PM eVIDYA has been initiated as part of Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan which unifies all efforts related to digital/online/on-air education to enable multi-mode access to education,” the written response by MoS Devi read.
Meanwhile, as per the budgetary provisions, government aided schools in India get a non-recurring grant of up to Rs 6.40 lakh per school and recurring grant of up to Rs 2.40 lakh per school per annum for a period of five years to set up ICT and other digital infrastructure.
On the other hand, for setting up of smart classrooms these schools are claimed to be provided a non-recurring grant of Rs 2.40 lakh and the recurring grant is Rs 0.38 lakh.