Fee reimbursement burden to Telangana govt

This has reference to ‘KCR sparks needless row’ dt.23-07-2014 in Hans India.

Education is a state subject. Fees reimbursement is in the domain of state government. The 10 year provision in the admissions to educational institutions in APRA does not relate to fee reimbursement. The fee reimbursement scheme is outside 371-D. It is a state scheme and the state government is free to continue, modify and close it or have a new scheme, if it chooses. Anyway, the present ill-conceived fee reimbursement scheme is in a mess, because of the mismanagement of it by the erstwhile A.P.government.The fee reimbursement has become very burdensome to the government with its heavy budget. The T-government thinks that it needs to be revamped and to be taken out of the mess. So that the government can extend the financial assistance to only Telangana students in the state and outside the state without any hassles. T-State is also not flush with money and it wants to use its scarce resources to its Telangana citizens only. FAST is the answer to the quandary.

The cut-off date for nativity as 1956 specific to the scheme is also very much tenable. There are instances where state governments had such rules in select cases ---- even in erstwhile A.P. also. If A.P.wants to pay for the students of Andhra origin who are not eligible under the scheme they can do so. Nobody is preventing it. If it does not want to pay, what seems to be the case, the A.P. state can talk to Telangana government or ask the center to mediate and try to resolve the issue amicably. But, they cannot force T-government to pay the Bill. It seems they are thinking to go to courts. But here the question is whether A.P. government has the ‘locus standi’ to do so.

T- government follows rules under 371-D for admissions and is considering financial assistance from the state budget under its own scheme ’FAST’. There A.P. government does not have any ground to question T-State. It cannot force to extend assistance to all the students studying in Telangana.It is up to A.P. government to pay the fee to students of Andhra origin who are ineligible under fast or not. Only students, who are denied assistance under the scheme in Telangana colleges, have the locus standi to go to courts against T-State, contesting the cutoff date or on other reasons, if any.

Therefore for A.P. government just because Andhra students were given admission under 371-D and APRA, cannot demand T-government to extend financial assistance to them under Their FAST Scheme. The fee reimbursement is not incumbent on giving admission. It is up to T-government to do so or not. The students in Telangana who are denied the assistance under the scheme can represent to T- government or go to Court for deciding the nativity. The A.P.government has no role whatsoever to play in it. It’s effort to browbeating T-government and the brouhaha in this is a needless row. It will only help in diverting the attention of people for some time. Anybody can say any thing casually but, it will be paying several hundred crores of rupees in the end.