Congress MP N. Uttam Kumar Reddy has said that the Telangana government owes ₹4,592 crore in fee reimbursement and scholarship dues, affecting around 15 lakh students.
“Despite the High Court’s directive to release funds in three terms for an academic year, the State has been releasing partial amounts biennially and this delay has forced many students to drop out or take high-interest loans to continue their education,” he alleged.
Mr. Uttam Reddy was addressing the Youth Congress and NSUI Convention in Kodad on Monday. Kodad ex-MLA Padmavathi Reddy, Youth Congress president Shiv Sena Reddy, NSUI State President Balmoori Venkat and other senior leaders also addressed the convention. Earlier, Mr.Uttam Reddy also led a massive bike rally which witnessed the participation of hundreds of Congress activists.
The Congress MP also alleged mismanagement of funds stating that the K.Chandrasekhar Rao-government diverted 60% of the scholarship funds provided by the Centre for SC and ST students for other purposes. Furthermore, while the Fee Regulatory Committee has increased fees for various courses, the government’s fee reimbursement remained the same, and even that meagre amount was kept pending for years.
He also criticised the Chief Minister for not delivering on the promise of an unemployment allowance of ₹3,016, as proposed prior to the 2018 Assembly elections. Over 40 lakh individuals, including 25 lakh qualified youth registered with the State Public Service Commission remain jobless, he said and added that despite promises of filling up 1,41,735 vacancies, the BRS government has not filled a single post. The TSPSC’s credibility is also under question, with multiple instances of question paper leaks, he charged.
As regards higher education in Telangana, he said that over 4,000 sanctioned posts across universities remain vacant, affecting the quality of education.
