KCR Hikes Mess Charges For Hostel Students In Telangana

Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao today announced in the Telangana Assembly an increase in the mess charges paid to students living in hostels.

The government, bowing to the demands of the opposition parties, will increase the mess charges to Rs 950 for students of classes from 3rd to 7th; to Rs 1,100 for students of classes from 8th to 10th; and to Rs 1,400 for intermediate and degree students staying in hostels, given the increase in prices over the past few years.

The CM said that a total of 18 lakh students would benefit from the increase in mess charges.

KCR also said that the government would regularize the services of the Home Guards as soon as possible, and increase the salaries of the Asha workers.

Stating that the KG-to-PG scheme was his dream project, KCR said that the TRS government's aim was gearing up to implement the scheme, still in its primary stage, aggressively. However, he said that it would take time to implement the scheme in a full-fledged manner.

Rao also said that the state government had set up gurukul schools for SCs, STs, BCs and minorities, and special degree colleges for SC girls.

The CM added that the state government would be recruiting for 24,000 teacher posts, in phases. He said that the fact that 50% of the students were pursuing their education in private schools was a failure of the previous governments, and that the state government was firm on providing quality English-medium education to the children in government schools.

The Chief Minister also said that the state government had taken the power sector as its first priority, and that it had spent Rs 12,136 crores for the betterment of the sector.