CONTRIBUTION OF CENTRE AND THE
 STATES TO PLAN EXPENDITURE ON
 EDUCATION IN INDIA.
 

4.0.0 In the following words, the National Policy on Education, 1986, calls for a "Meaningful" partnership between the Centre and the States in regard to Education :

" The Constitutional Amendment of 1976, which includes Education in the Concurrent List, was a far-reaching step whose implications - substantive, financial and administrative - require a new sharing of responsibility between the Union Government and the States in respect of this vital area of National life. While the role and responsibility of the States in regard to education will remain essentially unchanged, the Union Government would accept a larger responsibility to reinforce the national and integrative character of education, to maintain quality and standards (including those of the teaching profession at all levels), to study and monitor the educational requirements of the country as a whole in regard to manpower for development, to cater to the needs of research and advanced study, to look after the international aspects of education, culture and Human Resource Development and, in general, to promote

- 13 -

excellence at all levels of the educational pyramid throughout the country. Concurrency signifies a partnership which is at once meaningful and challenging; the National Policy will be oriented towards giving effect to it in letter and spirit."