Educational Finance in India

Mona Khare is Dean (Academics & Research) and Head of the Department of Educational Finance at the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, Govt. of India, New Delhi. An expert and consultant with forums like UNESCO, UNICEF, APO, British Council, Commonwealth, and government bodies. She is the author of Sustainable and Dynamic Graduate Employability: A Comparative Overview Across Geographies (2023), and co-author of the India Higher Education Report 2020 (2021) published by Routledge.

Professor Mona Khare, with her extensive experience in research and consultancy across Finance, Internationalization, and Employability Skill Gaps, presents an invaluable work that addresses the critical issues of disparities and inequalities in education finance during times of rapid change. What truly stands out is how the book not only explores key concepts such as Efficiency, Adequacy, Efficacy, and Gender Budgeting from a theoretical perspective but also rigorously examines them empirically. This comprehensive approach provides readers with a solid foundation for making informed and impactful decisions. - Professor Libing Wang, Chief of Section of Health and Education, UnescoI find the book a very timely and authoritative contribution to the field of education finance. In her book Educational Finance in India: Exploring Trends, Disparities and Inequalities Dr. Mona Khare unpacks the complex realities of the changing landscape of funding for the education sector. At a time when equity, access, and quality in education are central to India’s development agenda, the book offers much needed analytical depth and clarity in highlighting persistent disparities and inequalities in public as well as household expenditure on education. Chapters on Gender Budgeting, Foreign aid and triangularisation of Financing, Quality and Efficacy, add newness to the literature.Being rich in evidence and policy insight, I find the book to be an interesting and essential read for scholars, policymakers, and all interested in the subject area.- Dr. V. M. Bansal, Chairman of the New Delhi Institute of ManagementEducational Finance in India: Exploring Trends, Disparities and Inequalities by Prof. Mona Khare clearly reflects her scholarly understanding on the subjects. As it traverses through the national and state wise analytical discourse it keeps track of rising concerns on regional, social as well as gender disparities. The book breaks new ground by exploring emerging areas such as gender budgeting and by linking financing patterns to educational quality and systemic efficiency. The book is a valuable contribution to sparsely available literature on the subject.- Sandhya Shukla, IAAS, Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General, Government of IndiaA masterful and timely interrogation of the shifting landscape in Indian Educational Finance, this book meticulously charts the transition from state like welfare to market driven dynamics, offering a sobering look at the disparities born from shrinking public budgets. By bridging macro level policy with granular data and field experiences it provides an essential framework of understanding how we might achieve true equity and efficacy in a right space era. An indispensable resource for policy makers and scholars alike.- Prof. Ajanta Rajkunwar, Vice-Chancellor, Assam Women's UniversityDr. Mona Khare’s Educational Finance in India arrives at a defining moment for India’s knowledge economy. At a time when industry demands future-ready talent, the financing of education can no longer be a policy-side conversation alone. From shrinking public budgets and household burdens to gender budgeting, foreign aid, and inter-state disparities, the book maps the fiscal architecture shaping tomorrow’s workforce. Its rigorous macro-to-macro analysis offers strategic intelligence that policymakers, industry, and academia can no longer afford to overlook. For anyone serious about strengthening the industry-academia interface and India’s human capital edge, this is essential, agenda-setting reading.- Dr Jatinder Singh, Deputy Secretary General, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, India

• List of Contributors; Introduction - Mona Khare; 1. Fund cut and pursuit of efficiency and quality in Higher Education - Saumen Chattopadhyay; 2. Is School Education a Priority- A Two State Study of Education Budget Post Fourteenth Finance Commission Recommendations - Provita Kundu; 3. Regional Disparities in Public financing of education in India: Concerns on Adequacy, Efficiency and Effectiveness - Mona Khare and Sandhya Dubey; 4. Financial Resource Management in Higher Education – Emerging Trends in India - M.M. Goel; 5. Changing Paradigms of Foreign Education Assistance in India - Tanu M. Goyal; 6. Inter District Disparities in Public Expenditure on Education in Madhya Pradesh - Roopali Shevalkar; 7. Factors influencing household expenditure in higher education: Unpacking the recent Indian Scenario using NSS 75th round - Anuneeta Mitra and Nivedita Sarkar; 8. Inequality in household expenditure across disciplines in higher education: Evidence from India - Pradeep Choudhury, Deepak Kumar and Amit Kumar; 9. Gender Budgeting in Indian Higher Education: The Need for Shift in Focus - Mona Khare, Sandhya Dubey and Sonam Arora; 10. Financial Aid in Education : Insufficiency and inadequacy in Scholarships - Shrishti Chamola; Index