Expressing displeaure over the recent fee reimbursement policy for BC and EBCs announced by Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, Telugu Desam party today requested the government to take steps for speedy completion of admission in engineering colleges by withdrawing the retrograde decision immediately. In his letter addressed to the Chief Minister, TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu alleged that the government’s decision to limit the fees reimbursement facility to only the students up to 10000 rank is a retrograde step and the students who secure admission in private engineering colleges with higher ranks will have to bear an additional burden of Rs 15,000 to Rs 70,000. Because of the anti-poor decision, nearly Rs 20 lakh students would be deprived of higher education in professional colleges,he pointed out and added that the total fees reimbursement for SCs and STs has been in practice in all the previous governments and the central government is also supporting 75 per cent of the expenditure for this purpose. The additional impact would come only when the uncovered sections like BCs are included in the fee reimbursement scheme while continuing full support to SCs and Sts, he said. Condemning the decision of the government in depriving BC and EBC students from going to higher studies in Technicial and Engineering professionas, he demanded that the government implement fee reimbrusement policy announced in the Congress manifesto by arranging total fee reimbursement to all the eligible students irrespective of rank in EAMCET. Any other decision short of this will not be acceptable and the government will have to face the consequences, Mr Naidu cautioned.
He requested the government to consider the decision to ensure full fee reimbursement to all BC and EBCs students without fail and help the student community from the poorer sections to pursue their higher studies in the engineering colleges and other professional colleges without going through the trauma of bearing addtitional cost. UNI