VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has called upon the beneficiaries of his welfare schemes as well as the critics to see the perceptible change in the implementation of these schemes and their impact on the people. “If you feel the change helped you, vote for the YSRC,” he said.
He said his government implemented the schemes in a transparent and corruption-free manner, unlike the time of the Telugu Desam government.
The CM was addressing a large gathering after depositing Rs 703 crore by the click of a button for 9.95 lakh students under the Vidya Deevena Scheme at Kovvur in East Godavari district on Wednesday.
He said, “We are implementing several welfare schemes with the sole aim of eradicating poverty. Many families are poor and backward in several aspects. Education is the best way to break the chain of poverty,” he stressed.
“We are bringing in revolutionary changes in the field of education through the Jagananna Vidya Deevena, Jagananna Vasathi Deevena etc to help the students pursue education. We are extending financial help at the end of every quarter in a year,” he said.
The CM said, “We have so far extended a financial help of Rs 10,636 crore for nearly 26.98 lakh students under the Jagananna Vidya Deevena and Rs 4,275 crore for 25.17 lakh students under the Jagananna Vasathi Deevena. A total of Rs 14,912 crore was distributed under both the schemes in the last four years.”
“When we compare this with the previous TD term, it paid only Rs 35,000 per student as fee-reimbursement and did not include all the eligible students in the scheme. It also failed to pay the sums promptly and left a due of Rs 15,511 crore as arrears since 2017. We have cleared them to avoid trouble for students,” he said.
Jagan Mohan Reddy said, “The TD government’s imposition of a ceiling on the amount under fee reimbursement scheme at Rs 35,000 forced several students to drop out. Our government extends any amount with no limit to help the student pursue higher education.”
“I want my critics and the Opposition parties to note that we are investing huge amounts in human capital. If our students study well and acquire skills, AP may become a hub for skill development. The state can thus become a role model in skill development,” he said.
The Chief Minister said, “We are initiating revolutionary changes in education from nursery to colleges to provide quality education and have introduced CBSE syllabus, English medium, providing bilingual textbooks and Vidya Kanuka kits. We are even launching digital classrooms for the benefit of students.”
“We have already started witnessing the impact of a series of reforms. The number of students pursuing education has gone up to 40 lakh against 37 lakh during 2015-19. The drop-out of students after Class XII has come down to just 22,387 from 81,813 in 2018-19. The number of students pursuing engineering courses has also gone up to 1.20 lakh in 2022-23 from 87,000 in 2018-19 in the state,” he noted.
The CM said, “I want every family to produce a Satya Nadella (Microsoft, CEO) and I also want every student to pursue education. I assure you the government would extend financial support to them. We have extended such help under DBT and non-DBT modes to the extent of Rs 3 lakh crore in the last four years to students under various schemes.”
