Belgaum : The government has addressed the long-standing demand for better infrastructure including basic facilities in government schools, colleges and higher education institutions in Karnataka and Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced several initiatives in the state budget on Friday. In this, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has announced to give free bus pass to the students of all government schools and colleges in the state.
In this year’s budget, a provision of Rs 300 crore has been made for providing free bus passes to students. Also, a bus scheme is being implemented with a subsidy of 100 crores for the welfare of children, and 8 lakh female students are likely to benefit from this. Similarly, ‘Makkal Bus’ scheme has been announced with the view of increasing transportation for 19 lakh school and college students. Through this, an additional 1000 timetables will be run through road transport corporations at a cost of Rs 100 crore and it is expected to benefit an additional 2 lakh students every year.
The Vivek program was announced in the 2022-23 budget which included the construction of 7601 classrooms at a cost of Rs 1194 crore. In the current budget 2023-24, construction of additional 1955 rooms has been approved at a cost of Rs 382 crore under various other programmes. Therefore, a total of 9556 classrooms will be constructed at a cost of Rs.1576 crore. Also, yoga meditation camp will be organized in all government first class women’s colleges and polytechnics. Mukhyamantri Vidyashakti Yojana for higher education has also been released. 12 percent of the total budget is earmarked for the education sector.
