Hyderabad: Determining the “nativity” of students whether they belong to Telangana or AP is likely to be contentious. One option is to decide on the basis of the place of birth and the other on the basis of where they have gone to school for the last five years till Class X.
Since Hyderabad was the capital of the united AP state, a large number of professional colleges were established in and around the city, which students from across the state attended.
If place of birth is taken into account, many students born in the Seemandhra region cannot claim fee reimbursement from the Telangana government despite becoming “locals” here following their school study till Class X.
It remains to be seen whether the AP government will agree to bear the fees of these Seemandhra students who have studied till Class X in what is now Telangana.
“The decision to bear the fees of only Telangana students by Telangana government was taken to ensure that no problems arise in future between the states. It will be convenient for both the states to bear the fees of their respective students. Why should we bear the fees of Seemandhra students studying in Hyderabad or Telangana? Though Hyderabad might be joint capital for both the states, it is only for administrative purposes. One should realise that Hyderabad is part of only Telangana state,” said G. Jagadishwar Reddy, Telangana education minister.
Disclosing the details of the all-party meeting to reporters, Mr Reddy said the decision is in conformity with existing rules and regulations followed by the Centre and all the states.
“Our students pursue education in other states and institutes such as IITs, NITs etc for which our state bears the fee. Similarly, students from Bihar and other states pursue studies in Hyderabad, for which those state governments bear the fees. There is nothing new in this,” he added.
He said the nativity of students will be determined by verifying their birth and education certificates and the guidelines are yet to be finalised in this regard.
