MOBILISING RESOURCES FOR HE IN ANDHRA

PRADESH: A POLICY BRIEF

The present study uncovered several facets of the nature and methods of public
provisioning of HE in Andhra Pradesh. The most crucial of them were:

1. The spending on HE fluctuates over the period covered under this study concerning the
overall budgetary spending. However, the overall trend in absolute numbers indicates a
rise in absolute allocation to HE. This indicates that government recognizes the need for
public spending on HE. Though its relative importance can be improved.
2. A component-wise analysis of the budgetary allocation of HE indicates that scholarships
are rising in importance. Its relative importance to assistance to universities and
administration has also risen. In conjunction with the higher number of private HEIs in
the state, it indicates that the government is seeking to provide students with choice and
access while at the same time combating the privatisation of HE in the state.
3. The massification of HE in Andhra Pradesh can be discerned from the fact that its overall
GER is 37.2, which is quite high compared to other states and India (27.3) as per AISHE
2020-21. It signifies that government spending elicits a positive response. It is evident
from rising GER among SC and ST students indicating access to HEIs and equity in
terms of diversity in social groups in the HE system in the state.
 .

4. The rising quantum of scholarships indicates that the state’s mix of the budgetary
framework is tilting from an incremental approach to budgeting towards a student-based
approach. It has introduced variability in the budgets, visible from fluctuation in HE
expenditure concerning the overall budgetary spending. Further, the scholarship amount
is static. Inflation can erode the value of scholarship amounts affecting the efficiency of
student aid programmes.

Interventions

Institutions change when they have the incentive to do so. The next step to the identification of
problems in an institutional framework is to weaken the past “rules of the game” which make a system
persist. Any strategy that can be suggested essentially target economic policies, political forces and
humanly devised culture. If budgets can be considered as an institution (and a policy instrument), then an
intervention suggested to change it affects the norms, structures and organisations around it.
In order to address the problems that arose in the analysis of Andhra Pradesh's HE budget
following interventions are recommended:

1. Shift in Budgetary approach:

The state should consider shifting from student and input-based incremental budgeting to
output-based budgeting.
 a. Objective- To address fluctuation in HE expenditure as a percentage of total
budgetary spending
b. The course of action: It will involve sanction of funding to HEIs based on the
achievement of specific quality-related outcomes such as quality of research,
increasing pass-out percentage, etc. This can be the variable part of the funding
structure. The other part of the funding, which will be of a fixed form, can be
based on a formula that incorporates the specific needs of the HEIs being funded.
c. Outcome- The chosen course of action will contribute towards increasing the
quality of HE infrastructure, better internal controls arising from funding
frameworks ensuring quality management, and reduce yearly fluctuation in the
HE budget.
2. Addressing low capital expenditure:

In Andhra Pradesh, capital expenditure on HE fell in the years when there was an overall
contraction in HE spending relative to overall budgetary expenditure (specifically
2020-21, 2016-17, 2015-16). It signifies that capital outlays in the state's HE budget are
more prone to change with respect to the state’s capacity to fund.

Further, the presence of more private HEIs (87.1% of all colleges as per AISHE
2020-21) than government HEIs (12.9% of all colleges as per AISHE 2020-21) offers
little incentive to GoAP from investing in public HEIs. Although capital expenditures are
non-recurring by nature, their low proportion (2.51% in 2020-21 actuals) with regard to
revenue expenditure (97.48% in 2020-21) signifies that capital expenditures are not a
priority for the government.

a. Objective- Installing a funding mechanism that adapts to periods of low funding,

especially towards capital expenditure items such as establishing new colleges,
increasing seats in medical colleges etc.
b. The course of action- The suggested strategy is establishing expenditure-specific
funding programmes with a target-based approach. It also entails giving more
importance to capital heads of the budget, for example building new colleges and
hostels, increasing colleges in backward colleges etc.
 c. Outcome- It will help arrest budgetary fluctuations by raising capital expenditure
3. Establishing gender-sensitive scholarships

There is a commendable association between scholarships and a rise in GER of backward

classes. Scholarships can be considered a policy instrument with a definite aim. In
Andhra Pradesh, the aim is enforcing economic need-based scholarships towards socially
backward students to achieve equity by raising GER. The government’s scholarship
schemes, for example, JViD, set conditions of land size, asset ownership, income cap etc.,
as eligibility norms for availing scholarships. Though the GoAP’s schemes, for example,
SC students’ GER rose from 22.5 in 2013-14 to 33.6 in 2020-21 Andhra Pradesh as per
AISHE 2020-21.

However, the GER of overall female enrolled students has been largely stagnant
in the last nine years (from 35 in 2013-14 to 36 in 2020-21 as per AISHE 2020-21).
There needs to be a similar focus to address the GER of overall female enrolled students.

a. Objective- To address the slow growth of overall female GER.

b. The course of action- Establishing economic-need-based scholarships for
females in DBT mode similar to JViD.
c. Outcome- It will result in higher overall female GER.
4. Measuring cost per outcome:
Public HEIs already have lower costs than private ones. The essential target, therefore,
becomes maximising outcomes in terms of academic, career and research achievements.
However, the cost of achieving those outcomes needs to be measured to bring
predictability and accuracy to government spending. It thus becomes essential to evaluate
and establish a cost and outcome matrix to achieve a specific outcome,
a. Objective- Devise methods of measuring costs per outcome to achieve
Cost-effectiveness while being affordable
b. The course of action: The suggested intervention is to constitute a panel of
experts to determine unit costs against a comprehensive outcome mix of
academics, career, and research and provide a time-bound action plan to achieve
their recommendations
c. Outcome- It will lead to better utilisation of public funds and introduce an
efficient benchmark to measure the state’s public HEIs functioning against.
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