UPA keen to push Right to Education Bill

Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia met Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh on Tuesday and communicated the Prime Minister’s keenness to enact this crucial piece of legislation, top Government sources told The Indian Express.

The first step towards the enactment will begin with the all-important Right to Education Bill getting the approval of the entire Planning Commission—chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh—in its meeting, now scheduled to be held on September 13 (Thursday).

During Ahluwalia’s hour-long meeting with Arjun Singh, sources said, it was agreed that “the 86th Constitutional Amendment Act, passed in 2002, led to a new Article 21-A in Part III of the Constitution that made free and compulsory education to all children of 6 to 14 years of age, a fundamental right. It is, therefore, necessary to pass relevant central legislation to follow up on the Constitutional amendment”.

The UPA is not expected to face any hurdle in passing this legislation.

Sources said the political voices in the UPA regime are keen to pass this legislation—before the country goes to polls—since they don’t want the Bill to be in the list of “missed opportunity”.

This is more so because the BJP-led NDA Government had amended the Constitution, and the Congress-led ruling coalition doesn’t want to give “ammunition” to the Opposition leaders.

The UPA Government has been sitting on the Bill for the last three years, since operationalising the legislation would cost the exchequer about Rs 80,000 crore. But with the resource allocation being carried out for the XIth five-year Plan, Planning Commission has agreed to push this Bill, with the Centre and states jointly sharing the cost of operationalising the legislation.