rptng correcting figure in para 6

Guwahati, Mar 5 (UNI) The Asom Assembly today passed an appropriation bill of an amount of Rs 79,14,69,000 for the fiscal 2006-07, in excess to the budgetary allocations under various heads for the said period.

The largest amount was granted under Education (elementary, secondary etc), amounting to Rs 75,99,56,000.

State Education Minister Ripun Bora, replying to the debate over the grant of additional money to his department, said the additional funds were necessary as the amount sanctioned for elementary education in the budget was less than needed, as the construction of permanent kitchen sheds for implementation of the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) had put extra burden on the department.

He said Rs 20 crore, needed to fill the gap of budgetary sanction in the elementary education sector, was facilitated by diverting excess funds in higher and secondary sectors to it.

Mr Bora sought another Rs 55 crore for the construction of permanent kitchen sheds under the SSA. He said Rs 55 crore had been sanctioned by the Centre for the same but it could not be included in the budget for 2006-07 as the money was yet to reach the state government. '' It is to include this money granted by the Centre that the supplementary grants bill has been brought,'' he added.

The minister also informed the House that Rs 300 rpt 300 crore has been granted for the construction of permanent kitchen sheds under the SSA by the Centre, which would cover 33,000 schools in the state at the rate of Rs 60,000 per unit.

An amount of Rs 55 crore has been sanctioned in the first phase, he added.

Earlier, participating in the debate, members of the ruling coalition as well as the Opposition stressed on the need to keep politics away from education, highlighting the need to monitor functioning of schools and greater role of local MLAs in it.

The members also expressed concern over lack of good teachers in many schools as well as disproportionate teacher student ratio.

UNI