'Merit must have a home': When a father’s pain pushed FM Sitharaman to prioritise girls’ hostels in Budget 2026

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently shared a deeply personal moment that influenced a key education decision in Union Budget 2026–27. Recalling a meeting with a distressed father, she explained how the lack of safe accommodation forced a young girl to give up admission to a top institute despite qualifying on merit.

“That stayed with me,” Sitharaman said, adding that no girl’s future should be limited due to the absence of a hostel. This interaction became one of the emotional triggers behind the government’s push to expand girls’ hostels across districts, especially for students pursuing STEM and medical education.

“Merit Must Have a Home”: Sitharaman on Girls’ Hostels

During a post-budget interaction with around 30 college students, the finance minister underlined the importance of infrastructure in ensuring equal opportunity.


“A girl’s merit should never be defeated by the lack of a hostel room,” she said, explaining why the Budget aims to ensure hostel facilities in every district. According to Sitharaman, access to safe accommodation is as critical as scholarships or fee support when it comes to enabling women’s education.

Budget 2026 Student Outreach: FM Chooses Campuses Over Studios

Breaking from tradition, Sitharaman skipped television studios after presenting the Budget and instead engaged directly with students. Her team coordinated with universities to bring students together for a direct conversation at Kartavya Bhawan-1.

Before the interaction, the students watched the Budget presentation from the Lok Sabha Gallery and later received briefings from senior finance ministry officials on how policy decisions are framed.

“Budget Is About Trust, Not Just Numbers”

Responding to questions on handling the pressure of managing high-stakes finances, Sitharaman said the Budget goes far beyond spreadsheets.

“The Budget is not just about numbers; it is about the trust of the people,” she said. She added that while finalising the Budget speech, she thinks of the common citizen and the aspirations of India’s youth, not just fiscal targets.

She also described the Budget as an exercise in constitutional accountability, acknowledging its impact on nearly 1.4 billion lives.

Four Pillars of Budget 2026: Poor, Youth, Farmers and Women

Sitharaman reiterated that Budget 2026–27 is guided by four core pillars, the poor, youth, farmers and women. She stressed that true equality is about creating a level playing field, where students from remote areas have the same access to education and digital resources as those in metropolitan cities.

Calling the Budget a “sacred document”, she told students that watching it live was witnessing democracy at its most transparent.

Education Gets Rs 1.39 Lakh Crore Push in Budget 2026

Education emerges as a major focus area in the Union Budget 2026–27, with an allocation of Rs 1,39,290 crore, marking an increase of 8.27%.

• School education and literacy receives Rs 83,561 crore, up 6.35%, aimed at NEP implementation and strengthening Samagra Shiksha
• Higher education gets Rs 55,724 crore, an 11.28% rise, focused on campus expansion and research capacity

University Townships Near Industrial Corridors

One of the key higher-education initiatives announced in Budget 2026 is the creation of five university townships along major industrial and logistics corridors.

These townships will house universities, colleges, research centres, skill hubs and residential facilities, bringing education closer to emerging economic zones and improving industry-academia collaboration.

Digital Learning and AVGC Labs Expansion

The Budget also strengthens digital education infrastructure. Plans include setting up AVGC (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics) content creator labs in:

• 15,000 secondary schools
• 500 colleges

This move aims to align education with future-ready skills and creative industries.

IIT, IIM Funding and Overseas Education Relief

Under institutional funding:

• IITs receive Rs 12,123 crore
• IIMs get Rs 292 crore

Some other premier institutions, including IISc and IIITs, see tighter allocations this year.

For families funding education abroad, the Budget reduces tax collected at source (TCS) on overseas education remittances under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme from 5% to 2%. A one-time six-month window has also been introduced for small taxpayers to disclose foreign assets without penalties.

A Budget Built Around Youth and Women’s Access

Describing Budget 2026 as a youth-driven roadmap, Sitharaman said ideas from the Viksit Bharat Young Leaders Dialogue 2026 influenced several proposals.

With a strong focus on classrooms, campuses and girls’ hostels, the Budget seeks to convert India’s demographic advantage into long-term educational strength, ensuring that talent, especially among young women, is not held back by infrastructure gaps.

Inputs from TOI