The paper examines the issue of resource adequacy for Right to Education (RTE) by estimating the resource requirement for universalization of elementary education across twelve Indian States. Using RTE norms as the base, a framework for estimating school and system level resource requirements is laid down. Apart from the official norms, framing of the normative must necessarily take into account the present structure of schools including the pattern of enrolment in government schools vis-à-vis private schools, existing infrastructure in these schools, school size etc. Database of school-level information has been used for the purpose. Actual budgetary expenditure presents the distance from the normative.

 

The results indicate that even with minimal norms, there is a vast amount of underspending per student  by governments. Except in the case of Tamil Nadu, the required expenditure per student is short of the normative requirement. In States like Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh, not only is the requirement many times the present levels of expenditure, the burden of additional requirement falls disproportionately on these poorer States. The present set of policy interventions and inter-governmental resource sharing arrangements fail to adequately address the specific resource needs of these States for fulfilling the basic entitlement.