Andhra Pradesh deputy chief ministers KE Krishna Murthy and Nimmakayala China Rajappa on Sunday met Governor ESL Narasimhan and submitted a letter protesting the formation of Telangana State Council for Higher Education.
The deputy chief ministers, in the letter, said that the Government Order Ms. No.5 (issued for constituting the Telangana State Council for Higher Education) is blatantly illegal and inimical to the interests of innocent students whose academic schedule and future education prospects will be affected for no fault of theirs. Expressing anguish over the Telangana government’s move, the deputy chief ministers said, this action of the Telangana government will adversely impact the future of lakhs of students of both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
The AP government said, section 95 of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, prescribes “in order to ensure equal opportunities and quality education for higher education to all students in the successor states, the existing admission quotas in all government or private, aided or unaided institutions of higher technical and medical education (as provided under article 371D of the Constitution) shall continue as such for a period of 10 years during which the common admission process shall continue.”
Currently, the common admission process for engineering and pharmacy colleges is being handled by the AP State Council for Higher Education. (APSCHE). “Section 75 of the AP Reorganisation Act says that the central government shall fix period of such common institution in any case of disagreement between two states,” the letter said.
Hence, this move of setting up a separate body for higher education not only disrupts the functioning of APSCHE but also affect the admission process that is already underway.
Krishna Murthy said the counselling is very important for students of middle-class and those of SC, ST and BC communities. Though the Telangana government is claiming to have brought out the G.O. under dire circumstances, he said one doesn’t know the reasons.
The AP government said that the Telangana government made the move without even waiting for the Supreme Court’s decision on the issue. The AP government requested the Governor to take appropriate measures immediately and said that it is essential to protect the students from such whimsical actions of Telangana government. (INN)