Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal's comments on the Uttar Pradesh government's stand on the Right to Education (RTE) Act has drawn flak from Chief Minister Mayawati.
Ms. Mayawati termed his comments “irresponsible.” She said Mr. Sibal was trying to mislead people and the Centre trying to gain political mileage from the Act.
At a symposium in Lucknow on Sunday, Mr. Sibal criticised the Chief Minister for expressing her inability to implement the RTE for lack of funds.
Onus on States
Ms. Mayawati said the United Progressive Alliance government was introducing new Acts in a bid to confuse the common man and when it came to implementing them, placed the onus on the State governments. The RTE Act was introduced without doing any proper homework, she said in an official statement on Monday.
In contrast to the Centre's approach, all the laws passed by the Uttar Pradesh government were supported by proper groundwork on different aspects. Uttar Pradesh was not the only State to demand additional funding from the Centre for implementing the RTE Act, Ms. Mayawati said.
Basic education priority
Basic education was given top priority by her government, Ms. Mayawati said adding that this was evident from the budgetary increase in successive years from Rs. 8,613 crore to Rs. 12,412 crore in 2009-10.
Ms. Mayawati defended the State asking for additional funds from the Centre. The demand was made after the Centre was apprised of the ground realities, she said. In this context, the Chief Minister mentioned a letter written by her to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, urging him to sanction Rs. 22,868 crore for implementing the RTE in the first three years of its implementation.
She said it was clear that the Centre's objective was not to implement RTE Act, but politicise the issue.
