Karnataka government is looking at increasing CSR spending in the education sector and skilling of youth across the State, as it has drawn up the CSR requirement to be about ₹2,854 crore for the year 2023-2024.
The needs that could be met through CSR has been identified for solar-based smart classroom at schools, skills on wheels (1027 schools in 25 districts), classrooms and skill labs in 99 polytechnics and 11 engineering colleges, 6,000 multi skills labs, teaching, supplementary nutrition to school children, apprenticeship/internship opportunities in about 59,000 establishments, digital library and library upgradation and sports equipment. It is also seeking donation of used/old PCs/ laptops to address shortage of desktops in 2,275 schools and laptops in 1,600 secondary schools.
Lion’s share
Between 2016 to 2017 and 2020 to 2021, more than 50% of the CSR funds have been spent on the education sector, and the Government is looking at increasing the engagement with corporates on Friday to increase the spending on improving the education sector.
According to data available, of the total ₹5,705 crore that came as CSR between 2016 to 2017 and 2020 to 2021, ₹2,940 was spent in the education sector, while ₹ 1,517 crore, and ₹822 crore were spent on health and environment sector respectively.
While Karnataka received ₹1,278 crore in 2020 to 2021 as CSR, third highest in the country after Maharashtra and Gujarat, it is projected that about ₹ 2,000 crore would be the CSR due for the period upto 2023. The CSR funds have gradually increased since 2016 to 2017 when ₹876 crore flowed into the State.
CSR conclave
The Government data prepared ahead of the CSR conclave: Education - Make a social impact on Friday in which Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will participate, has identified the challenges in the education sector.
The State has estimated the annual budget for education to be about ₹38,000 crore of which about ₹25,350 crore goes towards salary of teachers and staff. While ₹1,635 crore will be spent on mid-day meals, ₹730 crore will be spent on eggs and ₹185 crore, and ₹160 crore will be spent on free uniforms, and free textbooks respectively. The government will also spend ₹ 1,040 crore on scholarships and ₹ 1,250 crore on infrastructure.
