HYDERABAD: The AP EBC Welfare Association has called for a bandh of colleges on November 24 to mount pressure on the government for reimbursement of the tuition fees of Economically Backward Class, Backward Class, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students.
In a press release issued here today, association president P Ravinder Reddy alleged that though the mining mafia and irrigation contractors were looting the State treasury to the tune of thousands of crores, the government was playing a silent spectator and was not willing to bear the fees of the EBC, BC, SC and ST students.
He said the association would not remain silent if the government slashed the allocation for fee reimbursement.
As decided it should release Rs 550 crore immediately, Reddy demanded.
As the government did not set up a mechanism to oversee the disbursement of fee reimbursement to EBC students, they were not able to get reimbursement even though six months had passed since the academic year began, he explained.
Due to the negligence of the government the future of about seven lakh students was in a mess, the EBC student leader lamented and said that several private colleges were already collecting fees from the students forcibly.
The government had issued a GO three months ago authorising the higher education department to reimburse the fees but the task was recently entrusted to the BC welfare department because of the reluctance of the higher education department, he alleged. Now, even the BC welfare department might throw its hands up, he apprehended and urged the chief minister to look into the matter and take necessary steps.
