BJP demands CM's clear statement on ₹15,000 crore fee reimbursement dues in Telangana

Bharatiya Janata Party's Telangana unit has accused the state's Congress government of deliberately stalling the clearance of fee reimbursement arrears that now total nearly ₹15,000 crore, affecting lakhs of students across the state. Party president N. Ramchander Rao called on Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy to issue an unambiguous statement specifying when the pending amounts would be released.

BJP rebuts CM's Assembly remarks

Speaking at a press conference at the BJP State office in Hyderabad, Mr. Rao rejected the Chief Minister's assertion in the Assembly that the BJP had remained silent when the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government allowed fee reimbursement dues to pile up. He pointed out that as an MLC, he had flagged the fee reimbursement issue, student scholarships and the deteriorating state of the education system in the Legislative Council as far back as January 4, 2017, a fact that could be verified from the official proceedings.

Breakdown of accumulated dues

The BJP leader presented a detailed account of how the arrears had mounted over two administrations. According to figures cited by the present government itself in the Assembly, the BRS government had left behind approximately ₹5,430 crore in unpaid dues when it demitted office. Under the Congress government, another ₹6,037 crore had been added to the burden, he claimed.

Mr. Rao clarified that his party had no objection if the government chose to adopt a direct benefit transfer (DBT) mechanism to credit the reimbursement amount straight into students' accounts. "The government should tell students when the money will be credited," he said.

Criticism over G.O. 97 and police action

The BJP president also trained his fire on the government over G.O. 97 related to the polytechnic education system, alleging that it jeopardised the future of polytechnic students. He condemned the police action against polytechnic students who had staged protests over their future.

Mr. Rao said BJP workers had canvassed colleges across the state and gathered signatures from around eight lakh students on petitions detailing their grievances. Despite this mobilisation, he alleged, the Chief Minister had refused to grant them an appointment to submit the petitions.

"Congress and BRS shielding each other"

Accusing the Congress and BRS of being "two sides of the same coin," Mr. Rao alleged that the two parties were protecting each other's mistakes. He challenged the Congress government to admit openly if it lacked the resources to clear the outstanding dues.

Source: The Hindu