Interim Budget 2024-25: More Medical Colleges to be Setup, Existing Ones to be Improved

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while presenting the Interim Budget 2024-25, spoke about the benefit plans to be introduced in the education sector. She said that the government plans to increase the number of medical colleges in the country.

“Our government plans to set up more medical colleges by utilizing the existing hospital infrastructure under various departments. A committee for this purpose will be set up to examine the issues and make relevant recommendations,” the Finance Minister said in during her budget speech in the Lok Sabha.

Sharing insights on the improved status of females in higher education and workforce in the country, she added, “Female enrolment in higher education is up by 28% in 10 years in STEM courses. Girls and women make 43% of enrolment in these courses which is one of the highest in the world. All these steps are reflected in the increasing participation of women in the workforce.”

The minister also highlighted the new IITs and IIMs that have been setup in the country. “The Skill India Mission has trained 1.4 crore youth, upskilled and re-skilled 54 lakh youth, and established 3,000 new ITIs. A large number of institutional higher learning, namely 7 IITs, 16 IIITs, 7 IIMs, 15 AIIMS and 390 Universities have been set up.”