Alleging that the Kiran Kumar Reddy government is phasing out all the welfare programmes started by the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy, YSR Congress Party honorary president YS Vijayalakshmi has said the government is adopting anti-people policies and ias diluting all the welfare schemes launched for the welfare of the common man.
Vijayalakshmi made the scathing criticism while sitting on a two-day fast at Indira Park here on Thursday in protest against the capping of reimbursement of engineering college fees for the poor at Rs 35,000.
“The Kiran Kumar Reddy government is slowly trying to phase out the fee reimbursement scheme. The move will keep higher and technical education out of the reach of weaker sections. It clearly shows that the Congress government is not interested in the welfare of weaker sections whom it is using as a vote bank”, she alleged.
Addressing a well-attended meeting at the Dharna Chowk, Vijayalakshmi declared that her party stood by students on this matter and would not rest until the government withdrew the GO. “To dilute the scheme the government has come out with a GO which states that only those students who get a rank below 10,000 in the Eamcet will be eligible for fee reimbursement. Such a harsh measure will disappoint poor students who want to pursue higher education. Providing education to children of the state is government’s responsibility.
“The late YSR wanted to provide higher education to every student of the state. He used to say that money should not come in the way of education of a poor student. Keeping it in mind he designed the fee reimbursement scheme. Due to his vision students belonging to weaker sections have been able to study engineering, medicine, MBA, MCA and such professional courses but the present government is diluting the scheme and denying SC, ST and BCs access to higher education.”
She recalled that YSRCP president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had waged a seven-day ‘Fees Poru’ in Hyderabad in February 2011 and she undertook two-day protest programmes _ at Eluru in August last and in Hyderabad a month later.
She said the Congress was misleading the people by accusing the YSRCP of taking up the fee reimbursement issue to favour corporate college managements. “YSRCP is a people’s party and works for the welfare of the people and not for individuals or corporate houses,” she clarified.
Party MLAs Shobha Nagi Reddy, Gurunath Reddy and Srisailam Goud, Lakshmi Parvathi, late P Janardhan Reddy’s daughter Vijaya Reddy and as large number of students were present.