Govt to bring in new Act for fee reimbursement

A Cabinet Sub-Committee has proposed a new Act which would give SC, ST and BC students the legal right to obtain reimbursement for their tuition fees.

Briefing media persons about the new Act, Social Welfare Minister Pilli Subhash Chandra Bose said that the decision to bring in a new Act was taken since the government has thus have released the reimbursement funds through GOs. He said that the Act make it mandatory on the government to provide the reimbursements for SC, ST and BC students whose family income was below Rs One lakh.

Mr Bose added that modalities on the new Act were being worked out.

The Social Welfare Minister also said that the absence of an Act for the Fee Reimbursement was giving an opportunity to opposition parties to lay allegations against the government and also mislead the students for their own political gains. He asked the anguished students and parents not to believe rumours on the issue. “The government will implement the scheme at any cost. There is no doubt about it,” he said.

He reiterated that there was no question of the government going back on its promise of providing the Fee Reimbursements.

Mr Bose added that the government had cleared almost all the arrears of the last academic year and the remaining Rs 250 crore in arrears would be released by October 10.

He said that the scheme would be strictly restricted to SC, ST, BC, EBC, minorities and physically-challenged students whose family income was less than Rs 1 lakh a year.

While implementing the reimbursement of fee, the state government would follow the guidelines set by the Supreme Court in its recent judgment, Mr Bose stated.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Danam Nagender, Backward Class Welfare Minister Mukesh Goud, Panchayat Raj Minister Botsa Satyanarayana and Tribal Welfare Minister P Balaraju were present in the meeting.