New Delhi, Oct. 31: The Union cabinet has approved the Right to Education Bill that guarantees schooling for all children between six and 14 years of age, paving the way for the bill’s introduction in Parliament later this year.

After over three years of intense arguments over the content of the draft law within the government and between the UPA and its former Left allies, the cabinet cleared the bill late last night.

Once the bill is passed in Parliament, the central and state governments will together be legally responsible for ensuring schooling to all children between six and 14.

Under the draft law, the government is responsible for funding the education of those who cannot afford it. Failure to do so can attract litigation.

As first reported by The Telegraph on February 25, 2008, the bill also makes it compulsory for all private schools to reserve 25 per cent seats for students from economically weak backgrounds, government sources confirmed. The government will pay for the education of these students at the private schools.

According to the human resource development ministry’s latest projections, the implementation of the law will cost Rs 55,000 crore a year. This would be split between the Centre and the state governments roughly in a 2:1 ratio, the sources said.

No government official was willing to provide details of the finalised draft bill — details, they said, could only be provided after the HRD ministry seeks clearance for the same from the Election Commission.

Elections in six states have been announced, and the model code of conduct is in place. The government, sources said, does not want to invite charges of allurement through any publicity of the education bill.

The cabinet stamp comes after months of wrangling in the HRD ministry on the one hand and the Planning Commission and finance ministry on the other.

States had objected to paying for the implementation of the law that was the brainchild of the Centre. Following opposition from them, the HRD ministry suggested that the Centre bear almost the entire financial burden of implementation. However, the Planning Commission and the finance ministry argued that the Centre did not have adequate funds.

Under India’s federal system, school education is run by state governments which, in any case, would be the implementing agency for the new law. By making states pay for the implementation, a sense of accountability could be built into the attitude of the implementing agencies, the Planning Commission also argued.

The cabinet at a meeting on August 8 referred the bill to a Group of Ministers (GoM) under HRD minister Arjun Singh to sort out the differences within the government.

Earlier this month, the GoM cleared the bill for the entire cabinet’s consideration.

Sources said the bill would now be introduced in the Lok Sabha when Parliament reconvenes — the adjourned monsoon session is expected to continue in December.

The cabinet last night also approved a bill to create a South Asian University in Delhi by 2010.