Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy assured that all the genuine colleges will get their fee reimbursement dues in a phased manner while ‘others’ will be under scrutiny.

Dismissing allegations levelled by Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), Mr. Reddy told the Assembly that from this year ₹200 crore every month would be released to meet the ₹2,500 crore needed for the scheme. The money would be deposited into students’ accounts as large-scale irregularities were noticed in colleges’ accounts.

Mr Reddy said he wants to use the 75% fee reimbursement given to ST students and 40% given to SC students by the Central government, which has laid conditions on direct transfer to students. Fee reimbursement, he stressed, was meant for the benefit of students and not for the college managements.

KCR blackmailed colleges

The CM alleged that the previous BRS government, led by K. Chandrasekhar Rao, had used vigilance inquiries against colleges as a means to encourage defections, while selectively increasing fees for institutions favoured by the then government.

He said the status of the vigilance reports ordered during the previous regime was still not known. He alleged that colleges that were close to Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao were given favourable treatment, while others were denied fee revisions.

He questioned why the college managements had remained silent for nearly 10 years when fee reimbursement dues had piled up. “They did not speak for even a day or hold a single protest during those 10 years,” he added.

The Chief Minister also alleged that a university associated with a close aide of KCR had more than ₹400 crore in its bank account. “Where did this money come from? Is education a business?” he asked.