Harish asks BRSV to highlight govt’s failure to release fee reimbursement funds

Former Minister T Harish Rao asked BRSV leaders to highlight what he alleged were the Congress government’s failures in releasing fee reimbursement funds. He claimed the BRS government spent Rs 19,500 crore on the scheme, while only Rs 400 crore was released under the present government.

Siddipet: Former Minister T Harish Rao called upon the student wing of the BRS to take the alleged failures of the Congress government and the injustice done to students to every nook and corner of the State. Speaking at a meeting with BRSV leaders of Siddipet constituency on Thursday, Harish Rao said that the Congress government had conspired to stop the implementation of the fee reimbursement scheme, which was introduced by the Congress government before the State was created.

He recalled how the BRS government had successfully implemented the scheme despite the challenges posed by Covid-19 and the financial crisis. While the BRS government had spent Rs 19,500 crore on fee reimbursement, he said the government led by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy had released just Rs 400 crore towards the scheme, which, he claimed, was testimony to Revanth Reddy’s intentions.

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Stating that the Congress government had kept education out of its priority list, Rao recalled that the Congress came to power by promising to issue a Rs 5 lakh Vidya Bharosa card, with which students could pay school or college fees. Even though Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka had promised to release the pending fee reimbursement funds within two months, he said no steps had been taken towards releasing the funds until now.

The former Minister said that the Congress government had done great injustice to SC, ST, BC and other backward students by stopping the release of funds under fee reimbursement. While the BRS government established a number of residential educational institutions, Rao said the Congress had completely ignored them after coming to power. He accused Revanth Reddy of shifting the Veterinary College granted to Siddipet to his constituency.

Rao called upon the student leaders to take the alleged failures of the government to the grassroots level, to villages and wards in towns.