According to Chandrakala, District Secretary of the All India Democratic Students' Organisation (AIDSO), the recent announcement by the state government to strengthen public education in the budget was made in response to the year-long student-led movement to Save Public Education.
The demands made by the student community have resulted in several announcements in the state budget by the Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday, February 17, which include providing free education to students in government PU and degree colleges, renovating government schools and issuing free bus passes to all girl students in the state. Chandrakala added that AIDSO regards these announcements as a victory for the student movement, stated a report by The New Indian Express.
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She then went on to add, "Free education announced to students studying in government PU and degree colleges, renovation of government schools, free bus pass to all girl students in the state, construction of toilets in all government schools were some of the demands of the students." She said it is worth mentioning that the government's budget did not meet the demands for the construction of government engineering colleges in every district and the demand for free bus passes for all the students have not been met, as reported by The New Indian Express.
The state government's failure to release funds for the free laptop programme and the distribution of free tabs to degree students enrolled in government colleges, according to the general secretary of the AIDSO, is disheartening.
