BC community Students Stage Protest In Hyderabad
The protest highlighted consequences of the delay that led to shut down of 300 colleges due to unpaid salaries for lecturers, as many as four lakh students who completed their courses are unable to obtain certificates as colleges withhold them pending fee payments
HYDERABAD: Backward Class (BC) community students, led by BJP Rajya Sabha MP and National BC Welfare Association president R. Krishnaiah, staged a protest in Dilsukhnagar, demanding the immediate release of pending fee reimbursement arrears amounting to Rs 8,000 crore.
Addressing the rally organised by association working president Neela Venkatesh and others, Krishnaiah questioned Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s reluctance to clear the dues, terming it an “anti-BC” stance which was unprecedented. He alleged that despite repeated assurances, the Congress government has failed to allocate funds for 14 lakh BC, SC, ST, and minority community students, leaving colleges financially in distress.
The protest highlighted consequences of the delay that led to shut down of 300 colleges due to unpaid salaries for lecturers, as many as four lakh students who completed their courses are unable to obtain certificates as colleges withhold them pending fee payments, and nearly 30,000 students skipped engineering counselling out of fear over the scheme’s uncertainty. Krishnaiah warned to gherav the camp offices of MLAs if the government does not respond during the upcoming Assembly session
Krishnaiah contrasted Revanth Reddy’s tenure with past chief ministers right from Jalagam Vengala Rao to K. Chandrashekar Rao, stating that they introduced or expanded scholarships, hostels, and reservation benefits for marginalised communities. He accused the current CM of rolling back existing schemes, instead of launching new ones, and demanded restoration of the old fee reimbursement system without conditions.
The protesters demanded immediate payment of `8,000 crore in arrears, continuation of the old fee reimbursement model, full fee waiver and coverage as per Congress’s election promise, and enhancement of scholarships from `5,000 to `20,000 per student on the lines of Andhra Pradesh. Krishnaiah also criticised the under-representation of BCs in the state cabinet stating that only three out of eight promised ministers and in nominated posts. He also alleged a rise in atrocities against BC communities.