Chief Minister K Rosaiah on Monday gave the nod to the Finance Department to immediately release Rs. 1,000 crore towards fee reimbursement and scholarships for students.
Minister for Social Welfare Pilli Subhash Chandra Bose informed the media that the government has already released Rs. 512 crore out of the Rs. 2,083 crore set aside for fee reimbursement and scholarships to students.
Bose said the government would hold a meeting within a day or two with the managements of various colleges to work out a timeframe by which the pending funds for fee reimbursement could be released.
He said that the CM had instructed the Finance Department to release Rs. 1,000 crore with immediate effect, and that the remaining Rs. 572 crore would be released by August 15 this year.
Bose said the release of funds proves that the CM is not against backward classes, and that Rosaiah had been continuously working on clearing the fee reimbursement funds.
He appealed to the media to think twice before speculating on the reasons behind the delay in clearing funds for fee reimbursements.
Bose said that the state has witnessed almost continuous natural calamities like floods, cyclones and drought. He said that the Telangana issue has also affected revenue generation on the exchequer, and that this has led to delays in reimbursing fees.
Minister for Minority Welfare Mohammed Ahmedullah Syed and Tribal Welfare Minister Balaraju were also present at the press conference.