New Delhi, Jul 25 (IANS): Continuing his criticism of the Union Budget, the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, on Thursday slammed the Centre for slashing the higher education budget by a "whopping Rs 9,600 crore".

"BJP-RSS wants to destroy India's education sector by a thousand cuts! Budget for higher education has been slashed by a whopping Rs 9,600 crore, the interim budget also slashed it by 16.38 per cent," Kharge posted on X.

The Congress President also highlighted that the Budget for IITs and IIMs has been cut for the second consecutive year, while the UGC too received a "massive" 61 per cent cut.

"UGC is a statutory body, and was supposed to be the only grant-giving agency in the country, but Modi Govt has snatched its power, thereby trampling upon its autonomy," Kharge said.

He also asserted that the UGC's functioning of 'granting' funds has been usurped by the Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) - a venture between Canara Bank and the Ministry of Education.

"This will not only compel colleges and universities to introduce more self-financing courses, but also increase the financial woes of SC, ST, OBC, and EWS students.

"Modi govt's 5-pronged attack on India's education system continues unabated in the form of controlling universities, strangulating the funds of autonomous institutions, undermining their autonomy, destroying public education through cronyism and betraying the youth," Kharge said while slamming the Budget.