Union Minister of Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar on Sunday withdrew a comment had made at a school event in Maharashtra’s Pune on Friday, reported PTI. “Although it is former students of an institute who give back to their educational institutes, there are some schools that keep approaching the government with a bowl seeking help,” Javadekar had said.
The minister also claimed that his statement on government expenditure on education was misinterpreted. “I did not mean that the government will not spend on education and that only the former students should spend on it,” the Hindustan Times quoted him as saying. “The government continues to focus largely on education and will increase the same in the coming future.”
He said he wanted to imply that alumni should contribute to their alma mater and educational institutions should strengthen their alumni base. “But, having said that, I also realise that the use of the term ‘begging bowl’ was wrong and so I take it back,” he added.
Opposition parties, especially the Nationalist Congress Party, criticised the minister for his comment and said government money was not “private property”, reported NDTV.
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