Growth of Public Expenditure on Education in Himachal Pradesh

Abstract

This paper analyses the growth of public expenditure on education in Himachal Pradesh over the period of 2004-05 to 2020-21. The attempt has been to analyse plan and non-plan expenditure on education, revenue and capital account expenditure, and level wise allocation of expenditure on education in Himachal Pradesh. Findings show that during the study period expenditure on education has registered an over seven-fold increase with an average growth rate of 13.29. Expenditure on education as a percentage of GSDP is around 4 per cent, and the share of expenditure on education in total budget expenditure has fluctuated between 12-17 per cent. Level wise allocation shows that elementary education received the highest share of around 50 to 60 per cent. Analysis also highlights that the expenditure on education in revenue account is above 95 per cent during most of the study period. Findings lead to the conclusion that augmenting allocations and expenditures on education are needed. Equally, aspects of efficiency also require attention.