Raj govt stumped by own Budgetproposal to add 500 Sanskrit seats

Jaipur: Finance minister Diya Kumari's Budget announcement regarding the addition of 500 seats in Sanskrit Teacher Training and Shiksha Shastri courses has triggered confusion in govt circles, with officials realising the state cannot unilaterally increase seats in these programmes without approval from the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE).Official sources said the Sanskrit education department moved quickly after the issue surfaced, holding a meeting of senior officials Friday to examine how the seat increase proposal came to be included in the state Budget.
Seeking to play down the matter, however, Sanskrit education minister Madan Dilawar said the Budget announcement should not be seen as anything more than a proposal. "This is only a Budget proposal; we will review every bit of it and make changes to it, if needed," he told TOI.Besides the technical hurdle it entails, the proposed addition of seats is all the more curious as it comes amid a sustained decline in admissions to Sanskrit teacher training courses in the state despite incremental increases in the number of sanctioned seats. Official data shows enrolment in the 2025-26 session at 3,686 against 8,210 sanctioned seats, down from 4,701 admissions in 2024-25 against 7,860 seats.Officials at Rajasthan Sanskrit University have expressed reservations on the need for additional seats given this downward trend in enrolment.