Will Clear Fee Reimbursement Dues By March 31: KCR

The Telangana government said that it would take steps to clear fee reimbursement arrears of the affected students for the year 2015-16 by March 31, 2017.

Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao in the Telangana Assembly on Thursday, while replying to clarifications sought by the Opposition members who had staged a protest in the House on Wednesday, promised that the dues would be cleared, and asked students not to panic.

The Chief Minister said that he was ready to answer every question the members wished to raise but first the question hour must be allowed to finish. He urged the Speaker to complete the Question Hour and then let Opposition members seek clarifications.

After Congress, BJP, TDP and MIM members sought answers from the government to specific aspects of the fee reimbursement issue, KCR pointed out that fee reimbursement dues were piling up year after year as it was introduced during the Congress regime.

In an attempt to allay the apprehensions and concerns of the members regarding the impact the hiatus would have on careers of students, the CM promised that the State government would ensure that the arrears for the year 2015-16 would definitely be cleared by March 31, this year. He further reiterated that the TRS government had inherited fee reimbursement dues summing up to Rs. 1,880 crores since the year 2010-11, and an amount of Rs. 4,687 crores towards the same was paid by it.

He also assured that the TRS Government had no intention of discontinuing the scheme and that it was committed to ensure academic excellence of the students. However KCR emphasized the need for bringing modifications to the implementation of the scheme, not only to prevent piling up of arrears but also to ensure that it would not overburden the State treasury. He added that he would convene an an all-Party meeting, if the need arose, soon.

KCR also promised that his government would take every necessary step to protect job opportunities of those affected by the delay in reimbursing tuition fee.

Not satisfied with the reply, Opposition members sought further clarifications on the split up details of how the government would proceed with its March 31 deadline. But the House was adjourned due to a brief commotion, leading to the Opposition staging a protest. The agitators were evicted from the House after repeated pleas to calm down.