VIJAYAWADA: Reiterating his promise to bear the entire expense of educating students from poor families, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Sunday released Rs 698.68 crore under Jagananna Vidya Deevena towards total fee reimbursement of 9.86 lakh students pursuing ITI, Polytechnic, Degree, Engineering, Medicine and other professional courses for the quarter October to December 2022. The amount will be deposited in the bank accounts of the students’ mothers directly.
Addressing a huge gathering of students and parents after releasing the amount with the click of a button at Tiruvur of NTR district on Sunday, the Chief Minister said that the fate of the poor could be changed for the better through education and Vidya Deevena was introduced with the sole aim of providing higher education to poor students.
The government has so far transferred Rs 13,311 crore under the Jagananna Vidya Deevena and Vasathi Deevena, he said and added that out of this, Rs 9,947 crore was spent on Vidya Deevena alone benefitting 27 lakh students so far.
The Chief Minister explained the purpose of Vidya Deevena and how education would be a catalyst to change the fate of an individual, a family, a community and a country. “Today should be better than yesterday, tomorrow should be better than today and one should have the best future than a better tomorrow.”
He reiterated that his government strongly believes that if any invaluable asset that can be given to children by their parents, it is education, which will secure their 80 years of life. “Our government is taking steps to ensure poverty should never be a stumbling block for getting educated,” he said.
Explaining the purpose of crediting the total fee reimbursement amount to the accounts of the mothers of the students, the Chief Minister said,” It is for making college managements accountable and equip the mothers to confront colleges in case the facilities in colleges and educational standards are not up to the mark.” Elaborating on the purpose of Vasathi Deevena, he said that the amount will be credited under the scheme on April 11.
Stating that reforms introduced by the State Government in the education sector have started yielding results, Jagan said that the number of students joining professional courses like engineering has increased from 87,439 in 2018-19 to 1.2 lakh in 2022-23.
He said that there has been a decrease in the number of students discontinuing education after Intermediate from 81,813 in 2018-19 to 22,387 in 2022-23. “Our goal is to bring this down to zero. There should be absolutely no dropouts,” he said. Pointing out that Gross Enrolment Ratio in degree colleges has increased from 32.4% in 2018-19 to 37.2% in 2020-21, the CM said that efforts are on to take it to 70 per cent.
Observing that the face of the classrooms in the schools is changing fast with digitalisation, he vowed to bring the government schools in the State on par with corporate schools. “Just give me two years, and I will remove the impression that government schools can’t compete with corporate ones. Instead, the face of the government schools will undergo total change to force the corporate schools to compete with the former,” he said.
Citing the instance of IAS officer S Dilli Rao, who hails from a poor family in Srikakulam district, becoming the District Collector, he said each and every student should strive to rise to an eminent position in life.
Reiterating his committed principle that money spent on education is an investment in students’ future, he gave a clarion call to students to work hard and strive to become Satya Nadella. Taking a dig at the previous government, he said that several students committed suicide while some discontinued studies during the TDP rule as the government failed to clear the fee reimbursement dues, he said.
Coming down heavily on the TDP rule, the Chief Minister said that he has been waging a spirited war with the unethical gang of four, which pursued the policy of Dochuko Panchuko Tinuko (DPT) and its foster son who supported it. Reiterating his challenge to the Opposition to contest all 175 alone, the CM questioned them as to why they were trying to forge alliances if they strongly believed that the present Government did no good to the people.
Rs 26 crore for the bridge on the Kattaleru stream
In response to the appeal of Tiruvuru MLA K Rakshana Nidhi, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy granted Rs 26 crore for constructing a bridge on the Kattaleru stream and Rs 50 crore for bringing Krishna surface water to A Konduru mandal for reducing the recurrence of kidney ailments.