Budget 2024 today; Recap of interim education budget; when, where to watch LIVE streaming

NEW DELHI: Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the 7th consecutive Union Budget 2024 today while giving a glimpse of 10 years’ performance of the BJP-led government. Spotlight will be on education, health and much-anticipated tax relief for the middle class. While the education sector still hopes for 6% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) allocation to the public education system, the minister during interim budget on February 1 announced a total budget outlay for school and higher education for the financial year 2024-25 as Rs 1,20,627.87 crore, a 6.84% increase compared to last year.

Nirmala Sitharaman, who would be presenting her seventh straight budget, had in her first Budget in 2019 replaced the leather briefcase – which had been in use for decades for carrying Budget documents – with a traditional 'bahi-khata' wrapped in red cloth. This year's Budget 2024 would be paperless, as done in the last three years.

A day before the education budget 2024, the Union finance minister tabled the Economic Survey 2023-24 in the Parliament which stated that the school education system in India, with public and private schools, caters to around 26 crore students from various socio-economic backgrounds.

The ministry highlighted how the National Education Policy, launched in 2020, seeks to provide all learners in the age group of 3-18 years with access to high-quality education and has the potential to establish India as a global knowledge superpower.

When will the budget be presented in 2024

The finance minister will be presenting the Union Budget 2024-25 on July 23, 2024 at 11 am. Viewers can tune into the following links to watch live streaming of the Union Budget 2024-25 presentation.

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Highlights of Interim Budget 2024

The total budget outlay announced for the education sector in the interim budget is Rs 1,20,627.87 crore. School education has been allocated Rs 73,008.10 crore, a marginal increase of 6.11%, of which a whopping Rs 4,200 crore increase has been claimed by the PM SHRI.

For higher education , Rs 47,619.77 crore has been allocated, which is an 7.4% increase compared to the previous year.