Education must remain at heart of India’s development journey: Puri

New Delhi, Jul 15: As our country develops, the main focus must be on education, said Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, at a seminar on “School Education in India: Towards Equitable Access to Quality Education for All” organised by the Council for Social Development.
Stressing that education is fundamental to the nation’s growth, Puri underlined that India’s journey from a $4 trillion economy today to a $35 trillion economy by 2047 rests on nurturing a generation of responsible and productive citizens through universal, high-quality, and inclusive education.
Highlighting the transformative policy milestones in the last two and a half decades, the Minister noted that in 2002 during Vajpayee Government, the constitutional foundation of the Right to Education (RTE) was firmly laid through the 86th Constitutional Amendment Act, which guaranteed free and compulsory education for children aged 6–14 years by making it a Fundamental Right under Article 21A. This decisive step shifted elementary education from a Directive Principle to an enforceable right, eventually leading to the enactment of the RTE Act in 2009. The momentum of this historic reform has been strengthened under visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi since 2014 through focused implementation and flagship programmes.
Citing pre-RTE and post-RTE data from UDISE and ASER reports, Puri shared encouraging outcomes that underline the success of sustained efforts under Modi Government in the education sector: the youth literacy rate has reached nearly 97 per cent; the gender literacy gap has narrowed significantly, supported by initiatives like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao and Swachh Bharat Abhiyan; and enrolment rates have witnessed remarkable growth—with primary enrolment rising from 84 per cent to 96 per cent, and upper primary enrolment from 62 per cent to 90 per cent. Equally notable are improvements in educational infrastructure and teacher resources: the teacher-pupil ratio has improved from 42:1 to 24:1, the proportion of schools with separate girls’ toilets has surged from 30 per cent to 91 per cent, and those with electricity have increased from 20 per cent to 86 per cent. Meanwhile, the dropout rate has seen a sharp decline from 9.1 per cent to 1.5 per cent. Reflecting on India’s broader educational journey, he pointed out that literacy at the time of independence stood at 17 per cent, which has now advanced to around 80 per cent according to NSSO data—an achievement that paves the way for universal education as the next frontier.
Puri emphasised that education must be viewed as a national priority, transcending political ideologies, as it directly shapes the country’s developmental aspirations. While acknowledging that he is not a specialist in education policy, he reiterated his conviction that robust educational reforms and inclusive learning are essential to realise India’s demographic dividend.
The Seminar paid tribute to the vision and legacy of Prof. Muchkund Dubey, in whose honour the Muchkund Dubey Centre for Right to Education has been instituted at the Council for Social Development.
The Minister expressed gratitude for the opportunity to inaugurate the first event of the Muchkund Dubey Centre for Right to Education, honouring Prof. Muchkund Dubey’s enduring legacy. Remembering him as a mentor and an exceptional diplomat, scholar, and public intellectual, Puri highlighted Prof. Dubey’s lifelong commitment to ensuring equitable and quality education for every child in India.