BC residential schools up to 294 from 19 in Telangana: Harish Rao

Minister Harish Rao said the number of students studying in BC residential schools had increased from 8,000 to 1.65 lakh after Telangana was created

Siddipet: Finance Minister T Harish Rao said the State government had increased the number of BC residential schools in the State from 19 to 294 in less than nine years with the objective of providing better education to students from backward classes.

Speaking after inaugurating the Jyotirao Phule BC Residential School for Boys at KCR Nagar here on Wednesday, the Minister said the number of students studying in BC residential schools had increased from 8,000 to 1.65 lakh after Telangana was created. While Siddipet district used to have just one BC residential school at Mittapally before 2014, Rao said the district now had at least one residential school in each of the 25 mandals now. While the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh had just 298 residential schools, which include all categories of residential schools, the Minister said the number of residential schools now increased to 1,004 in Telangana alone. The amount spent on residential schools had increased to Rs.3,800 crore from a mere Rs.375 crore in 2014 while the number of students studying in residential schools increased from 1.40 lakh students to 5.5 lakh students.

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Since Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao had directed to increase mess charges in all hospitals, Harish Rao said the government would shortly enhance this as per the increased prices of essential commodities. He further promised to set up BC Residential Degree, Postgraduate and Law Colleges on the lines of the colleges opened for SCs and STs for the benefit of BCs in Siddipet.