Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy is likely to announce the final decision of the government on the controversial fee reimbursement scheme on Thursday. The Chief Minister, who held discussions with his ministerial colleagues including Pradesh Congress Committee chief Botsa Satyanarayana, on Wednesday, will reveal the government’s view on the crucial issue of how much of the fee the government will reimburse.
Sources said the Chief Minister asked the finance and technical education officials to work out the financial burden on the government in case of both full reimbursement and partial reimbursement. While the minimum fee is Rs 35,000 per seat per annum, there is a varying fee of Rs 50,000 to Rs 1.05 lakh in about 100 colleges. The government had till now fully reimbursed the common course fee of Rs 31,000. It will have to shoulder a heavy financial burden if it continues to reimburse the enhanced fees fully.
Sources said the ministers suggested to the CM that the fee of meritorious students be fully reimbursed. “We can formulate a new scheme wherein students who got ranks below 5,000 or 10,000 will be given full reimbursement while others will get Rs 35,000,” a minister pointed out. In that case, the college managements, which collect a higher fee, will have the last laugh because seats would be exhausted with rankers below 5,000-6,000.