Hyderabad: For the last 62 years both the state and central governments have been reimbursing the tuition fee of SC and ST students. However, in 2008, late chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, in a populist move, decided to extend the scheme to BC students. A year later, in 2009 with elections round the corner, he further extended it to the economically backward and minority students. And these two moves, say analysts, has landed the scheme in a mess it is in now.
Why? Chew on these numbers to understand the key reason why the otherwise socially noble exercise has taken an ugly political turn: the scheme currently covers 22 lakh students in the state but before it was extended to the BC students, the beneficiaries of the scheme were less than 6 lakh. So, when the government decided to extend it to BC, EBC and minority categories, it added 16 lakh more students, without calculating properly just how much funding the education of these many students would add up to. As things stand now, a good 70 per cent of the students in the state are covered under the scheme.
“Initially, the state government had proposed to reimburse the fee for SC and ST students in intermediate and under graduation colleges with the help of the central government, which was funding 50 per cent of the scheme. But when it decided to extend the scheme to other students, it failed to do an accurate calculation of the fees of 22 lakh students,” said a senior official from higher education department. According to officials who were instrumental in formulation of the scheme, several parties had warned Rajasekhara Reddy not to extend the benefits of the scheme to BC, EBC and minority students.
They reasoned that the BC community comprised 46 per cent of the state’s population and the number of the beneficiaries would shoot. “Some of the senior officials in the team and YSR himself miscalculated the number of students who would take admissions to reap the benefits of the scheme from BC community. While the state government was expecting a 30 per cent rise in the number of students of the BC community, the numbers increased by 50 per cent putting the government in a fix,” the official revealed.
However, the decision became irreversible and the goverment ended up funding the education of 70 per cent of the students in the state. “It was election year and the government could not have antagonised any section. Hence the scheme attained its current mammoth size” an official rued.
Experts explain that colleges, which would not have filled even a single seat, secured 70 per cent admissions due to benefits of the scheme. “In the past two years alone the number of private colleges in the state have increased by hundreds. This is an indicator of the amount of money they are making from the government,” an official from higher education department said.
“Currently almost 90 per cent of the private colleges, especially those offering professional courses are running with the government funds,” said R P Patnaik, educationist and former secretary, higher education. Incidentally, the government had even considered scrapping part of the scheme which funds the education of students in corporate intermediate colleges a month ago to cut down on the flow of money from public to private sector.
However, R Krishnaiah, president, BC Welfare Association, who has gone on strike demanding immediate release of funds under the scheme said that the state government should have no trouble in providing funds for the welfare of students. “The scheme provides help to students from weaker backgrounds. How can the state decide that BC, EBC and minority students should not study,” he said, adding that Rs 3,000 crore for fee reimbursement scheme should not be a big deal for the government.
A final decision on the fate of fee reimbursement scheme would now be in the hands of a nine-member cabinet subcommittee formed by chief minister K Rosaiah in May.