Hyderabad, May 14: How did the goof-up take place in the issue of GO 162 relating to fee re-imbursement to poor students admitted to Intermediate courses in corporate colleges which caused such embarrassment to chief minister K Rosaiah? According to sources, the officials and ministers have been debating whether it was wise to continue the scheme in the present form which only benefitted corporate colleges.
The argument aginst the scheme was that since the government was coming forward to allocate upto Rs.100 crore for strengthening the government junior colleges, why benefit corporate colleges? Though the chief minister was aware of the discussion that was going on and was in fact agreeable to the contention, he was not aware of the issue of the GO which clearly stated that the scheme would not be continued.
The officials, taking for granted that the chief minister himself had agreed to their idea, had the GO issued without realising the political implications inovlved in it.
When the GO was finally issued, it led to a rash of protests, alerting the political leadership of the faux pas commmitted by the officialdom. As soon as Rosaiah got to know about it, he had the GO withdrawn and a fresh GO issued.
One official who requested anonymity said: “Rosaiah would not withdraw a scheme launched by Rajasekhara Reddy and run a huge political risk. It was goof-up by the officials concerned.’’
–Agencies