157 nursing colleges to be set up

The Centre will recruit 38,800 teachers and support staff for 740 EkLavya Schools serving 3.5L tribal students

During the delivery of the Union Budget 2023 speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that the govt will establish 157 new nursing colleges, while talking about budget allocation in the sector of health and education. “157 new nursing colleges will be established in co-locations with the existing 157 medical colleges established since 2014,” she added.

The Finance Minister also said, “Facilities in select Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) labs will be made available for research by public and private medical colleges.” She has also made the announcement of a new research scheme for research in the Pharma sector.

FM has given a massive push to millets, the coarse grain already being recom-

EDUCATION MINISTRY GETS `1.12 LAKH CRORE, HIGHEST EVER ALLOCATION mended by doctors as having the capability of reducing the burden of diabetes in a country. This is the first time that nutrition gets a big push with a special programme called the PM Programme for Restoration Awareness Nourish- ment and Amelioration of Mother Earth (PM-Pranam).

As per budget documents, cetre’s allocation for the Ministry of Education for the next financial year is `1,12,898.97 crore. Notably, this is the highest allocation granted to the ministry ever. School Education Department’s outlay stands at `68,804.85 crore, while the Higher Education Department has been allocated `44,094.62 crore.

The govt also announced an Aspirational Blocks Programme, covering 500 blocks for saturation of essential govt services across multiple domains such as health, nu-

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