On Wednesday, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan urged private corporations to spend more in education as part of their CSR efforts (CSR). According to the education minister, an agreement should be reached in which a significant amount of CSR money is invested in the education sector.
Mr Pradhan stated that in order to elevate and promote education in aspirational areas, the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) 3.0 will be launched soon, with a focus on education in aspirational districts.
A supplementary question during the question hour recommended, “Companies act 2013 mandates 2 per cent of company's net profit into CSR activities and the education minister should recommend to the government that 50 per cent of that 2 per cent should be dedicated towards education sector and particularly education sector in aspirational areas.”
To this, the education minister replied that aspirational districts are already at the government's priority. Schemes like Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) are already working on the upliftment of the education sector in aspirational areas and the government is planning RUSA 3.0 soon.
The education minister further said that we should have a consensus so that a major portion of CSR activities is done in the education and research sector as it is the future of our country. Many companies are already investing in education through their private endowment especially the new-age companies and enterprises and investing in education which is a very good symbol and he further urged companies to invest more in the upliftment of education.