Withdraw GO 7 or face wrath of students: KTR demands release of fee reimbursement dues

BRS working president KT Rama Rao has strongly criticised the Congress government’s GO 7, alleging it is a deliberate move to abolish the fee reimbursement scheme that benefits marginalised students. He accused Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy of betraying 14 lakh students and demanded immediate clearance of Rs 10,000 crore in pending dues.

Hyderabad: BRS working president KT Rama Rao strongly condemned the Congress government’s contentious GO 7, calling it a deliberate attempt to scrap the fee reimbursement scheme.

Rama Rao said Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy backstabbed nearly 14 lakh students from BC, SC, ST, and Minority communities, causing them grave injustice. He also demanded that the Chief Minister revoke the orders and issue a public apology, apart from releasing the pending dues amounting to Rs 10,000 crore immediately.

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In a strongly worded letter addressed to the Chief Minister, Rama Rao said GO 7 was deliberately designed to abolish the fee reimbursement scheme, which has been a crucial support system enabling access to higher education for economically weaker sections and marginalised communities.

The BRS working president accused the Congress government of pushing the education sector into crisis over the past two-and-a-half years. He said non-payment of dues had severely impacted over 2,500 higher educational institutions, forcing some colleges to suspend operations and leaving students unable to access certificates due to unpaid fees.

“Over 142 students have died in government residential welfare institutions under the Congress rule, while many continue to get hospitalised due to this government’s inefficiency to provide quality food. Now, nearly 14 lakh students from marginalised sections will be deprived of opportunity to pursue higher education, pushing their future into uncertainty,” he said.

He criticised the government for misleading stakeholders through committees, token releases, and delayed payments instead of addressing the core issue of pending dues. He charged the government with deploying intimidation tactics by using vigilance raids and other departments against college managements that pressed for release of dues.

Rama Rao recalled that the fee reimbursement programme was introduced by former Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, and was effectively continued and strengthened in Telangana by former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao to ensure equitable access to higher education.

He questioned why the current government was weakening such a vital welfare scheme that was originally initiated by the Congress government itself.

He also questioned the credibility of the government’s proposal to directly deposit fee reimbursements into students’ bank accounts, pointing to the absence of any disbursal over the past 30 months. He said students were already facing hardships, including college managements withholding certificates due to unpaid fees.

“There is zero value to the assurances given by this government. The guidelines for 2026-27 academic year are only meant to bury the fee reimbursement scheme for good,” he added.

The former Minister also criticised the Congress government over its failure to deliver election promises and for diluting existing welfare schemes. He questioned the government for accumulating massive debt of Rs 3.75 lakh crore, but failing to allocate funds for student welfare in the last 30 months of the Congress rule. He demanded that the government clarify about the expenditure incurred from the massive loans obtained.

Warning of statewide protests, he stated that BRS will not remain a silent spectator if the government continues to neglect the future of students. He declared that the BRS will mobilise students across the State, unless the order is revoked.

“If the student community is forced to take to the streets, the government will be held accountable for the consequences,” he cautioned.