TRS Govt. Slammed Over Fee Reimbursement Delay

The Telangana government came under immense scrutiny from several politicians and education activists over the alleged delay in releasing fee reimbursement dues. Of the Rs. 4,400 crores that the State government supposedly owes colleges, including for the 2016-2017 academic year, only Rs. 1,658 crores has been released till date.

Several academicians and political Party leaders participated in a round table conference and discussed about "crises" in the education sector. They pointed out that a majority of the State's population fell under the SC/ST category and that fee reimbursement was a crucial to the enhancement of education standards of students belonging to these economically weaker sections. Only 12% of students in Telangana had access to higher education since 80% of the colleges were private, they added.

Telangana Political Joint Action Committee (TJAC) chairman M Kodandaram warned that if the government did not keep its word on releasing the dues, it would lead to a massive public outcry.

"Students are struggling to repay loans with heavy interests. The delay in releasing dues is also leading to unemployment," said Kodandaram.

As per reports, in March 2016, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao announced in the Assembly that the government would release Rs. 3,068 crores by April 30. But after a hiatus and several agitations by students and Opposition parties, Rs. 1,658 crore was released. The Telangana government apparently owes Rs. 1,560 crores to colleges for just the academic years 2014-15 and 2015-16. Rs. 150 crores was pending for the years 2012-13 and 2013-14.

While Congress leader N Uttam Kumar Reddy admitted that there had been issues in releasing funds under the Kiran Kumar Reddy regime as well, he, too, slammed the TRS-led government for not prioritising the scheme. Opposition parties including the BJP, the CPI and the Telangana Congress assured all stakeholders that they would take up this issue in the ongoing Assembly session.

He also said the government apathy's had had an adverse impact on the future of students. Some college managements had even held back certificates of students demanding immediate release of the tuition fee. Owing to this, scores of students were unable to take up government jobs.