Petition to increase budgetary allocation towards primary and secondary education to 6\% of GDP

Over the course of the past 60 years, as the target time-line for вEducation for Allв has shifted, a good part of two generations of children have lost out on getting an education.

We need to ensure that yet another generation or two of children, those born in the 21st century, are not deprived of their right to childhood. As responsible citizens, we must ensure that all children get вqualityв education. One of the ways of doing this is demanding an increase in the budgetary allocations on education in India.

The Indian governmentвs expenditure as a percentage of GDP has been a dismal 3.40\% in 2008-2009. In 2000-2001 it was 3.94\% and had dropped drastically to 3.01\% in 2004-2005. The target of 6\% was set as far back as 1968 by the Kothari Commission but is yet to be achieved.

The 6\% target finds a mention in manifestos of all the political parties. With the upcoming Annual Budget, we request the honourable Finance Minister to increase the budgetary allocation towards education, specially primary and secondary education, to at least 6 \% of the GDP.