A budget provision of Rs. 6.54 lakhs has been proposed for giving such grants during 1959-60.
National Committee on Women's Education.-The National Committee on Women's Education was appointed by the Government of India in May, 1958 to go into various problems of girls' and women's education under the chairmanship of Shrimati Durgabai Deshmukh. It has submitted its report to the Government on 5th January, 1959.
Centrally Sponsored Scheme for Expansion of Girls' Education' and Training of Women Teachers.-This special Scheme was formulated for the expansion of girls' education and training of women teachers under the Second Five-Year Plan and is being implemented through the State Governments to whom liberal financial assistance is provided for the construction of rent-free quarters for women teachers, particularly in rural areas, for the appointment of school mothers, payment of stipends to women for Teachers' Training courses at the undergraduate level and attendance scholarships for, girls etc.
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The following State Governments were sanctioned amounts as shown against each for the implementation of the Scheme during 1957-58 :-
Name of the State Amount Sanctioned
Rs.
1 Bihar 46,375
2 Orissa 25,585
3 West Bengal 21,73
During 1958-59 for the implementation of the Scheme administrative approval was given as shown below :
Amount
approved
Amount for
S. No. Name of the State originally release
allocated to the
State
Govt.
Rs. Rs.
1 Andhra Pradesh 5,68,750 4,11,563
2 Assam 1,64,500 99,000
3 Bihar 8,25,750 8,85,567
4 Madhya Pradesh 5,67,750 7,67,750
5 Madras 4,94,250 4,94,250
6 Orissa 3,61,000 3,60,788
7 Punjab 3,00,000 3,00,000
8 West Bengal 4,23,500 7,00,000
9 Mysore 3,54,250 3,53,343
10 Kerala 93,500 93,500
11 Rajasthan 3,85,750 3,85,750
12 Uttar Pradesh 13,84,000 ..
13 Jammu & Kashmir 96,500 ..
14 Bombay 7,34,000 ..
-------------- -----------
TOTAL 67,58,500 48,51,511
-------------- -----------
In addition, proposals from the Administrations of the following Union Territories were also approved during 1958-59 :-
Sl. Name of the Union Territory Amount Amount
No. allocated approved
Rs. Rs.
1 Manipur 13,860 13,860
2 Tripura 18,810 8,400
3 Laccadive, Minicoy and Amindivi Islands 528 1,200
----------- --------
TOTAL 33,198 23,460
----------- --------
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The original pattern of assistance was reviewed and the decision to release 75 per cent Central assistance to the States without making it obligatory on them to contribute their matching share of 25 per cent was communicated to them in December, 1958.
A sum of Rs. 70,50,000 has been proposed as budget provision for the scheme for 1959-60.
Children's Literature Under the Second Five-Year Plan a special scheme to encourage the production of suitable literature for children has been initiated. A budget provision of Its. 3,00,000 for 1959-60 has been proposed for this scheme. The following sub-schemes which are being implemented during 1958-59, will be continued in 1959-60 :-
(a) Prize Contest for Books for Children.-The results of the third competition organised in 1957-58 were announced in March, 1958. Twenty-two authors in all the regional languages were awarded prizes of Rs. 500 each. For the award of five additional prizes of Rs. 500 each the authors of all the prize-winning books of the third competition were invited to submit English version of their books. The entries received are now under examination and the result will be announced in due course. 2,000 copies of each of the prize-winning books of the third competition were purchased for distribution among educational institutions, school libraries, Community Development Blocks etc.
The fourth prize competition for children's books was announced in March, 1958 and the entries received are now under examination. After the award of prizes for the fourth competition, 2,000 copies of each prize-winning book are proposed to be purchased during 1959-60.
(b) Sahitya Rachanalayas (Literary Workshops).-Financial assistance towards organizing Sahitya Rachanalayas for training authors in the technique of preparing literature for children is being given every year. During 1958-59, organisation of Rachanalayas in the States of Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan was sanctioned with an expenditure of Rs. 11,000 per Rachanalaya.
The programme for 1959-60 also includes the organisation of four Sahitya Rachanalayas and a budget provision of Rs. 44,000 has been proposed for the purpose.
(c) Model Books.-The scheme envisages the production of a limited number of model books in order to improve the general standard of children's literature in Indian languages. Under the
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scheme the following books have so far been published by the Ministry :-
(i) Baune Ki Kheti,
(ii) Anokhe Janwar
Two other books, namely Bharat Ke Jahaz and Golden Plough are in the process of being published.
(d) Annotated Bibliography of Children's Literature.-The pre- paration of an annotated bibliography of children's literature in Hindi has been undertaken. The work is being done by the Central Educational Library and will take some more time for its completion.
(e) Children's Book Trust.-The Ministry approved Shri Shankar Pillai's proposal for establishing the Children's Book Trust and agreed to advance an interest-bearing loan of Rs. 7 lakhs for setting up an adequately equipped press for the production of children's literature. No instalment of the loan has, however, been released yet, due to foreign exchange difficulties. The already formed Trust is reported to have been able to obtain an import licence for a press. Arrangements for acquiring a suitable plot of land for the building are also under way. A provision of Rs. 4 lakhs, for 1959-60 has been proposed for the purpose.
Central Scheme for Grants-in-Aid for Educational Tours of Teachers.-The finalised scheme was circulated to all State Governments and Administrations of Union Territories in August, 1958. This scheme, which is quite distinct from the scheme of financial assistance for Students' Tours under the programme of Youth Welfare of the Ministry, is being implemented through the State Governments. The scheme is designed to help small batches of 12 to 32 teachers and pupil-teachers of Training institutions in order to enable them to visit important centres of educational and cultural interest in the country and thus gain firsthand knowledge of the country's progress and also incidentally 'to promote inter-State understanding. Up to the end of December, 1958 applications from the following States were approved for the grant :-
(i) Bombay
(ii) Mysore
(iii) Pondicherry
A sum of Rs. 14,000 has been proposed to be included in the budget for 1959-60 for this scheme.
Educational Survey of India.-The Educational Survey of India was undertaken by the Government of India in collaboration with
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the State Governments, in the first instance, to identify and enumerate every distinct habitation and to delimit the school areas to be served by the existing schools at the Primary, Middle and High school stages, and also to suggest suitable locations of new schools at the Primary, Middle and High school stages and so to delimit their areas as to provide for the maximum of area with the minimum number of such locations. Apart from the Habitations and School Area Registers prepared with the help of information collected from various sources, the Survey also, incidentally attempted to find out the number of local and non-local boys and girls attending the existing schools at the Primary, Middle and High school stages and also the number of teachers--men and women-and the accommodation available. All this information is presented for each district in District Tables and District Reports and consolidated in a State Table and Report, and the final picture is to be presented in the all-India Report.
In January-February, 1957, a Central Seminar-cum-Pilot Survey was organised wherein the State Survey Officers were trained in the technique and procedure of the Survey. They, in their turn, held in their own States similar seminars for the training of their District Survey Officers. Then the work was started in the districts, in some States from June 1957, in others later, and in some during 1958. The field work is now already over in all the participating States and in the Union Territories, and the District and State Reports have been received from most of the States and from the remaining they are expected shortly. The compilation of the All-India Tables and Report is now well under way. It is expected that the work would be over shortly.
During the Second Five-Year Plan a sum of Rs. 15 lakhs was provided for the Survey, of which a sum of Rs. 13.5 lakhs was provided for in 1957-58. During 1957-58, a total sum of Rs. 7,35,239 was sanctioned to the States at the rate of two-thirds of the estimated expenditure during that year, and during 1958-59, till December 1958, a sum of Rs. 1,39,531 has been sanctioned to some of the States. On receipt of statements regarding actual expenditure during the last year and estimated expenditure during the current year, the final instalments, of the grants due, are proposed to be released. Since the Survey work is expected to be completed during the current financial year no provision is proposed for 1959-60.