CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY
After the Fourth General Elections, Dr. Triguna Sen assumed charge of the portfolio of Education on 16th March, 1967. He is being assisted by two Ministers of State, Prof. Sher Singh and Shri Bhagwat Jha Azad.
2. Scope and Functions: The Government of India has several responsibilities in education, some directly specified in the Constitution and others implied. The Constitution makes the Union Government directly responsible for the Central Universities, for all institutions of national importance, for the enrichment, promotion and propagation of Hindi, for the coordination and maintenance of standards in higher education, for scientific and technological research and for education in international relationships which includes the welfare of Indian students abroad and cultural and educational agreements with other countries. The vocational and technical training of labour is concurrent responsibility; and so is social and economic planning which includes educational planning. The Centre also has special responsibilities for the education of the scheduled castes and tribes.
3. In addition, the Government of India also undertakes the collection and dissemination of educational information for the country as a whole. It also strives to provide, stimulating national leadership in educational development and financial assistance to State Governments for their educational programmes.
4. Organisation: The work in the Ministry was reorganised into 7 Bureaux and 2 Units. A copy of the Administrative Chart of the Ministry is attached at the end. A list of attached and subordinate offices and the autonomous organisations under the administrative control of this Ministry is given in Annexure I.
5. Departmental Council: Under the schemes of Joint Con- sultative Machinery and Compulsory Arbitration, a Departmental Council for the Ministry and the Department of Social Welfare is functioning under the chairmanship of the Secretary, Ministry of Education. It consists of the Chairman and 16 members, 8 each from the "official" and the "staff" side. An Under Secretary (Administration) is the Secretary (official side) of the Council.
6. The Council was inaugurated on 19th January, 1967 at New Delhi. Its formation has gone a long way in promoting
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harmonious relations between the Government and its employees. During 1967, five meetings of the Council were held and a Joint Committee was constituted to study and report on the matter of revision of pay- scales of the employees of the Survey of India.
7. Planning: A series of Working Group meetings were held to discuss State Annual Plans for 1968-69. This provided an occasion to review the progress of education in the country during 1966-67 and 1967-68. It was found that, due to the difficult economic conditions that prevailed in the country during this period, the total Plan outlay for education had fallen far short of the original expectations. Consequently, provision of teachers and other facilities was not commensurate with the expansion that took place and most of the schemes of qualitative, improvement bad to be drastically reduced or put off.
8. Fourth Five-Year Plan: It has now been decided to treat 1966-67, 1967-68 and 1968-69 as annual plan years and to begin a new fourth Five-Year Plan from 1969-70. Action for the preparation of the new Plan has been initiated. The States and Territories have been requested to prepare a long-term plan of educational development on the basis of the recommendations of the Education Commission and to draw up the new fourth Five Year Plan against its background.
9. Report of the Education Commission: The Report of the Education Commission (1964-66), submitted to Government in June 1966, was very widely discussed during the year by the press, public, teachers' organisations, universities and State Governments.
10. State Education Ministers' Conference: The Conference of State Education Ministers was held in New Delhi from 28th to 30th April, 1967, to discuss the recommendations of the Education Commission. After detailed consideration of some of the recommendations, the Conference unanimously adopted resolutions on various subjects, such as (i) the neighbourhood school system, (ii) work-experience, (iii) medium of education at the university stage, (iv) pay scales of school teachers, (v) teachers' status and teacher education, (vi) priorities in educacation, (vii) the structure of educational system, (viii) talent-intensive programmes, (ix) N.C.C. and National Service Corps and Sports programmes, (x) Centre-State relations in educational finance, (xi) moral education, and (xii) teaching of languages at the school stage.
11. Committee of Members of Parliament on Education: The Report of the Education Commission was also discussed during the year by a Committee of Members of Parliament on
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Education which consisted of the representatives of all the major political parties. The Committee held a series of meetings from 7th April to 29th June, 1967, and finally submitted a report to the Government on 24th July, 1967. The report of the Committee has since been discussed by both Houses of Parliament and also by the State Governments.
12. Central Advisory Board of Education: During the year under review, the CAVE held its 33rd Session on August 22 23, 1967. The Board discussed the recommendations of the Education Commission and the draft Statement on National Policy on Education prepared by the Committee of Members of Parliament on Education.
13. Vice-Chancellors' Conference: The fifth Conference of Vice- Chancellors was held at New Delhi on September 11-13, 1967 to consider the recommendations of the Education Commission relating to higher education. The Conference broadly approved of the recommendations.
14. In the light of these discussions, steps are being taken to formulate a National Policy on Education.
15. Review of Standing Charges: The budget estimates for the year 1968-69 relating to the grant of Secretariat proper, including the provision for permanent establishments, were discussed in detail in a meeting of the Internal Economy Committee. As against the budget estimates of Rs. 94.14 lakh, the revised estimates and budget estimates for the grant as a whole have, with the assistance of Associate Finance, been arrived at Rs. 93.64 lakh and Rs. 97.61 lakh respectively.
16. Budget: As against the total sanctioned grant of Rs. 130.61 crore for the Ministry as a whole (including the provisions made for the Ministry of Education in the Demands operated by the Ministries of Home Affairs and Finance) for the year 1967-68, both Plan and non- Plan, the revised estimates for 1967-68 and budget estimates for 1968- 69 proposed to be provided amount to Rs. 143.48 crore (provisional) and Rs. 149.78 crore (provisional) respectively.