Bengal cuts a sorry figure in central report on enrolment, expenditure in higher education

Kolkata, Feb 11 (IANS) The latest report released by NITI Aayog on the state of affairs in the sector of higher education in different Indian states revealed the sorry picture for West Bengal in various spheres.

As per the NITI Aayog report titled ‘Expanding Quality Higher Education through States and State Public Universities’, as of 2021-22, the gross enrolment ratio in the case of West Bengal stands at just 26.3 per cent.

West Bengal’s ranking on this count among all Indian states is quite lower in the tally at 18. However, the gross enrolment ratio for West Bengal in 2021-22 at 26.3 per cent is comparatively higher than the figure of 13.6 per cent in 2011-12, the first financial year under the Trinamool Congress regime in the state.

Equally unimpressive was the figure of the total state expenditure on higher education in West Bengal as a percentage of gross state domestic product.

As per the NITI Aayog report, in West Bengal, it is just 0.43 per cent, much lower than even smaller states in northeastern India where the figures are hovering around one per cent.

However, in terms of penetration, the performance of state-run universities in West Bengal is quite high, since over 80 per cent of the students enrolled in higher education are enrolled with such universities.

Next comes the figure of the teacher-to-student ratio in higher education and on this parameter also, the picture for West Bengal is not quite impressive. As of 2021-22, the figure is just 29, which brings West Bengal to the 23rd position in the tally among all Indian states under this parameter. However, the figure on this count in 2021-22 is significantly higher than the corresponding figure of 33 in 2011-12.

Last month, NITI Aayog came out with its report on the ‘Fiscal Health Index: 2025’ revealing the poor show of West Bengal in terms of three important indicators determining the fiscal health of a state namely revenue mobilisation, expenditure quality and debt index.

In the said report, where the financial year 2022-23 has been mainly taken as the fiscal under review, the fiscal health of 18 Indian states was reviewed and West Bengal ranked 16th.

–IANS

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