No funds to implement Right to Education Act: Mayawati

LUCKNOW - In yet another retort to the union government, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Saturday declared that she was not in a position to implement the provisions of the new Right to Education Act in the state.

The chief minister in a letter shot off to the prime minister late Saturday evening said that her government was not in a position to bear the financial burden and the state did not have the required infrastructure.

Terming financial crunch as the key reason for the states inability to implement the act, she stated in her letter, The implementation of the new law would require an additional expenditure of Rs.18,000 crore, out of which the state is required to provide for about Rs.8,000 crore, which the state is not in position to bear.”

This would also entail creation of more than 7,000 primary and junior high schools across the state, besides recruitment of at least 3 lakh teachers, which is not a simple task for the state government,” according to a state official.

Pointing out her governments constraint, Mayawati went on to add, Neither will it be possible for us to implement the act as of now nor in the near future.”

Mayawati said it would have made more sense if the central government had borne the entire burden of expenditure arising on account of the implementation of the act.

She also expressed her displeasure over the fact that the central government had not cared to hold any consultation with the state government on the issue, before framing the new policy.”