The Government has approved the continuation of Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) scheme till 31st March 2026 with an expenditure of 12,929.16 crore rupees. The new phase of the scheme would support around 1,600 projects.
- Out of Rs 12,929.16 crores of expenditure, the centre will share Rs 8,120.97 crore and the state will share Rs 4,808.19 crore.
Highlights:
i.The new phase of the scheme has been designed to implement some of the recommendations of the New Education Policy (NEP).
ii.It aims to reach out to the unserved & underserved areas, remote and rural areas, difficult geographies, Left Wing Extremism (LWE) areas, North East region (NER), aspirational districts, tier-2 cities and areas with low Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER).
Features of the New Scheme:
Under the new phase of the scheme, State Governments will support Gender inclusion, Equity Initiatives, Enhances employability through vocationalisation and skill upgradation.
- Grants will be provided for strengthening both accredited and non-accredited Universities and Colleges for undertaking various activities including teaching-learning in Indian languages.
- Besides State Universities will be supported for Multi-Disciplinary Education and Research including support on creation of new Model Degree Colleges.
About RUSA:
i.RUSA is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS), operating in mission mode for funding the state government universities and colleges with an aim at providing strategic funding to eligible state Higher Educational Institutions to achieve equity, access, and excellence.
- The Ministry of Education (MoE), formerly known as the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MoHRD) is the nodal agency administering RUSA which was launched in 2013.
ii.The central funding to the scheme will be in the ratio of 60:40 for general category states, 90:10 for special category states and 100% for union territories.
Recent related news:
The Central Government has decided to continue the Scheme of ‘Rashtriya Yuva Sashaktikaran Karyakram (RYSK)’ for another 5 years from 2021 -22 to 2025-26 with an outlay of Rs.2,710.65 crore rupees that aims to develop the personality and leadership qualities of the youth and to engage them in nation building activities.
About Ministry of Education (MoE):
Union Minister – Dharmendra Pradhan (Rajya Sabha Madhya Pradesh)
Minister of State – Annpurna Devi (Kodarma,Jharkhand) ; Dr. Subhas Sarkar (Bankura, West Bengal); Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh (Inner Manipur, Manipur)
