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KCR's foreign education sop for backward communities fails to take off

Hundreds of students had applied for foreign universities after the CM announced the scheme in June.

Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s promise to provide free foreign education for students from backward communities aspiring to do higher studies has failed to take off even after three months. The government was to provide Rs 20 lakh to each student from the SC, ST and minority communities.

The CM had set a deadline of one month. Hundreds of students had applied for foreign universities after the CM announced the scheme in June. The government had even announced a Rs 100-crore corpus for providing scholarships. Officials said that the fund would be sufficient to fund foreign education of 500 students a year.

However, the government failed to launch the scheme. The BC welfare department submitted guidelines for approval last month. It is pending with the Chief Minister’s Office.

Students whose parental income is less than Rs 2 lakh per annum are eligible for the scheme. BC students who got admission to universities in the US, Australia and Canada are approaching the welfare department but are being sent back.

Officials said that the students have to submit applications online. But the online system allows students only from SC, ST and minority categories to submit applications. “I got admission to a university in Australia to pursue Masters in Computer Engineering in August. The deadline to pay fees is September 30. When I app-roached officials for assistance, they said that the government was yet to launch the scheme.,” said Mr B. Vikram Goud, an engineering graduate.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
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