Another ‘fees row’ has stirred up a storm. This one has to do with the state government’s decision not to bear more than Rs 31,000 per annum as fees for engineering students from economically backward sections. This includes students from professional colleges as well. On Tuesday, the TD and the TRS slammed the Kiran Kumar Reddy government for reneging on its electoral promise.
TD chief N. Chandraba-bu Naidu criticised the government’s decision to impose a ceiling on fee reimbursement. “The government’s lopsided policies are affecting students. It should immediately remove the ceiling and reimburse full fees to students,” he insisted. Mr Naidu said the state government was doing a great injustice to the BCs. “We will launch state-wide agitations, including a dharna, till the government rolls back its decision. If it doesn’t, there will be an additional burden of Rs 20,000 to Rs 80,000 on each student,” he said.
TRS MLA K.T. Rama Rao said the party would orga-nise rallies, dharnas, picketing of collectorates and other agitations across Telangana on August 8 in mandals and on August 10 in district headquarters. “Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy has turned Andhra Prade-sh into Andha (blind) Pradesh,” he remarked. TD MP T. Devender Goud said the government decision would hit the BCs hard. “There are lakhs of families who cannot afford professional education for their children. Statistics show there are still lakhs of families whose daily in-come is just Rs 17,” he said. Other Opposition parties — YSR Congress, CPI and CPM — and students’ orga-nisations also lashed out at the new fee policy.
We cannot allow this, say Mantris
Two city-based ministers, Danam Nagender and Mukesh Goud, who belong to Backward Communities, have protested against the cabinet sub-committee decision and demanded that the CM immediately reverse the decision or else the BCs will distance themselves from the Congress.
Endowment minister C. Ramachandraiah too joined the bandwagon of those who said students belonging to BC communities be extended the fee reimbursement scheme without any cap like SC and STs. “We, who belong to the backward communities, cannot allow such a thing to happen, this kind of decision should not have been taken at all, especially at a time when opposition parties, like the TD, are announcing sops to BCs,” the ministers fumed.