Rs 2,400 cr fee reimbursement amount will be deposited in advance from this year
Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Friday announced that the state government would deposit Rs 2,400 crore towards fee reimbursement directly into students’ bank accounts in advance for the 2026-27 academic year, in a major overhaul aimed at ensuring transparency and ending delays in the payment process. He said Rs 250 crore had been deposited in banks towards fee reimbursement payments and assured that the amount would be credited to students’ accounts within a month of their applying online.
The new system, he said, was intended to prevent colleges from withholding certificates of students on the grounds that the government had not released the fee reimbursement amount.
Addressing a public meeting after unveiling the statues of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and Savitribai Phule at HMDA Grounds near Necklace Road here, the Chief Minister also announced a new initiative to impart technical and vocational skills alongside academic education to students from nursery to Class 12. “We are already providing comprehensive facilities for students, including breakfast, lunch and evening snacks, starting from the nursery level to Class 12,” he said, stressing that a degree alone was no longer sufficient to secure employment in an increasingly competitive world.
Students, he said, needed technical skills to meet changing employment requirements. Referring to global job opportunities, Revanth Reddy said even IT professionals were losing jobs in the United States and returning home, while nearly two lakh nursing jobs were available in Germany and Japan.
Revanth Reddy said 60 per cent of candidates selected in the Group-I recruitment belonged to the Backward Classes (BCs) communities, while pointing out that competition in education had increased sharply as nearly 90 per cent of students were now securing full marks in examinations. He said the government had established the Young India Sports University (YISU) and was also providing government jobs to sportspersons who excelled in their respective disciplines.
In a broadside at the previous BRS government, the Chief Minister alleged that it had failed to provide opportunities for BC communities to pursue higher education and instead encouraged them to depend on traditional occupations such as sheep, goat and cattle rearing. “Are we still expected to stitch footwear? Are we still expected to just herd sheep and buffaloes? Shouldn’t this community get educated? Shouldn’t they become IAS officers? Shouldn’t there be IPS officers, ministers and MLAs among you,” he asked. Education alone could change the destinies of individuals and transform Telangana, he asserted, alleging that the BRS leadership wanted its own children to rule the state.
Describing the unveiling of the statue of Jyotiba Phule as a “delightful moment”, the Chief Minister said the Necklace Road junction had now been transformed into a magnificent landmark, with statues of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr B.R. Ambedkar, Indira Gandhi and former prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao adorning the area.
