Hyderabad: The new governments in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh seem to be in a bind over the fee reimbursement issue, especially the AP government.
Many students from AP move to Telangana for education in streams like engineering, medicine and computer applications, but questions remain as to what the Chandrababu Naidu government will do about their fees.
Senior officials say it is a double-edged sword. If the AP government decides to reimburse fees of Andhra students in Telangana, thousands of AP students studying in other states will also demand the same treatment, increasing the financial burden on the already cash-strapped state.
Meanwhile, Telangana CM K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Friday hinted that his government wouldn’t reimburse fees of Andhra students in Telangana.
Speaking in the Legislative Assembly, he said that only Telangana students’ fees should be reimbursed by the Telangana government. However, he added that a joint committee would be set up to look into the issue.
“The governments will have to choose to finance students on the basis of their nativity. Each would support its own,” a senior technical education department official said, stressing that the opposite wouldn’t be acceptable to the electorate.
This would mean a bigger headache for Mr Naidu. Hundreds of students from AP study in Telangana, particularly in and around Hyderabad.
“If students of Andhra studying here are reimbursed, there would be similar demands from Andhra students studying elsewhere, maybe even outside the country for reimbursement,” a senior SCHE official said.
AP education minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao, meanwhile, said they would overhaul the reimbursement system without commenting on the delicate status of students studying in Telangana. Estimates of the scheme’s burden on the exchequer are also being calculated.
