On December 1, thousands of employees from about 200 universities across the country marched to parliament to press the government for hike in education funds. The rally was organised by the All India University Employees’ Confederation (AIUEC).
On December 1, thousands of employees from about 200 universities across the country marched to parliament to press the government for hike in education funds. The rally was organised by the All India University Employees’ Confederation (AIUEC).
The employees staged a mass-meeting at Jantar Mantar to press for their eight-point charter of demands. These demands include among others, allocation of six percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) to education and opposing the privatisation of education which is being carried out in the name of encouraging private and foreign direct investment.
AIUEC spokesperson said that former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi had committed to allocate six percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) for education. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government too had committed to do so in 2004 in its Common Minimum Programme. However, the fund allocation is still only 2.6 percent. The employees were also opposed to private and foreign direct investment in university education as they felt this was part of the privatisation program, through which large sections of the people in this country would be deprived of access to higher education.