Haryana is going ahead on a mission to provide the Right to Education to every child, as this is the best way of ensuring rapid and inclusive growth in the long run. Journey from literacy to education is a huge leap forward in the direction of providing equal opportunities to all, so that everyone can participate in today’s vibrant economy.

Education for all becomes even more important in the context of modern global knowledge economy. Keeping with the changing trends and needs, Haryana has increased the budgetary allocation for Education Department from Rs 1,600 crore in 2004-05 to Rs 3,200 crore in the current year. We have also declared 2008 as the Year of Education.

Today, education is not only considered a beacon of light to kindle the rays of literacy but is also a key component of planning for development. The state Government is aware that educational opportunities are the tools to bring about socio-economic changes that transform a society into a just and an equitable order. It is by establishing such an order that the noble ideals of our Constitution can be realised and, therefore, to this end my government has been working tirelessly.

The inspiration to promote quality education in Haryana came to me from my grandfather, Chaudhary Matu Ram, who was a crusader in spreading education and abolishing untouchability. He was also the founder president of Jat Educational Society.

Three years ago when we formed Government in Haryana, we focussed on a multi-pronged strategy to ensure that our children get quality education. We took a conscious decision to deviate from the conventional practices and launched reforms in all the three tiers — primary, secondary and higher education. The underlying idea was to lay emphasis on inclusive development in which benefits of education and development would reach all social groups.

To drastically reduce dropout rate of students belonging to weaker sections of society, a comprehensive scheme at the cost of nearly Rs 280 crore was formulated under which all girl students belonging to Scheduled Caste families were given a monthly stipend ranging from Rs 150 to Rs 400. Similarly, boys belonging to these classes were given a monthly stipend ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 300 per month. For meeting all school-related expenses, one-time allowance ranging from Rs 740 to Rs 1,450 was given. Similar benefits for girls belonging to BPL families are being considered.

The results of these efforts are before us as the dropout rate of students belonging to Scheduled Castes and weaker sections has come down significantly. Also, parents who used to withdraw students from schools due to economic reasons are now encouraged to send their wards to schools. These innovative schemes have the potential to go a long way in empowering weaker sections of society.

The state Government has decided to make women the drivers of this collective effort for educational transformation. To ensure that women get higher education, we have set up Bhagat Phool Singh College in Khanpur Kalan in Sonepat district. Sakshar Mahila Samooh scheme has been implemented to ensure participation of educated women in developmental process.

To improve the quality of education in the state, we have enacted a legislation to pave the way for private universities in Haryana. We are also setting up Rajiv Gandhi Education city at Kundli in Sonepat district where 25 per cent seats would be reserved for students from the state. Similarly, we are upgrading Deenbandhu Chhottu Ram Engineering College at Murthal to University of Science and Technology and setting up a medical university at Rohtak. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has also sanctioned a Central university and an Indian Institute of Management for Haryana.

It is a matter of pride for us that every 10th soldier in the Indian Army is from Haryana. Continuing with this tradition, we are also setting up a defence university.

Haryana has the largest network of EDUSAT (education through satellite) to provide alternative quality input to education for students in schools, colleges and technical institutions. Haryana is the first state to successfully introduce semester system in schools and now, it will be introduced in colleges too.

We have also introduced the concept of teacher’s eligibility test in the state on the lines of the one conducted by the UGC. Haryana has one-third of its posts of teachers reserved for women.

To provide livelihood to youth is our avowed mission. The state Government has been expanding its network of technical institutes. We have now 52,000 seats in such institutions from 33,000 three years back. We have resolved to increase this number to 1,00,000 by 2010.

My dream is to make Haryana the number one state in the country through rapid economic growth and by ensuring equal opportunities to all segments of society. Education is the key to achieve this objective. This a daunting task. But all Haryanvis love challenges and so do I.

editor@expressindia.com