The Telangana government has prioritised school education and tourism by allocating funds for their development, ministers D. Seethakka, Jupally Krishna Rao and Konda Surekha informed the Legislative Assembly on Monday.
Hyderabad:The Telangana government has prioritised school education and tourism by allocating funds for their development, ministers D. Seethakka, Jupally Krishna Rao and Konda Surekha informed the Legislative Assembly on Monday.
She was responding during the question hour to the query of Congress MLA from Dornakal, Jatoth Ram Chander Naik, who inquired about the government's decision to increase mess and diet charges for students in residential schools and hostels. He sought details of the revised charges and the number of beneficiaries.
Seethakka stated that the government had raised mess and diet charges as follows: for students from Class III to VII, the charges were increased from `950 to `1,330 per month, an increase of `380; for Class VIII to X, the charges were raised from `1,100 to `1,540 per month, a rise of `440; and for Intermediate to PG students, the charges were revised from `1,500 to `2,100 per month, an increase of `600. She said a total of 7,65,705 students had benefited from the revised mess and diet charges, with the government spending `499 crore on this initiative.
BRS MLA Gangula Kamalakar questioned the government on the number of students selected under the Foreign Education Scheme and the disbursement of funds. In response, Seethakka said 1,913 students had been selected for overseas education. Of them, 725 students had received the first instalment of funds, while 1,188 students had received the second. She added that the government had sanctioned `167 crore for 1,333 students as of Monday and assured that pending payments would be cleared soon.
Meanwhile, Congress MLA from Yellareddy, K. Madan Mohan Rao, sought details on whether the government planned to develop Pocharam Reservoir in Nagireddypet mandal as an eco-tourism destination and restore the ancient stepwell, Nagannabavi, in Lingampet village. Tourism minister Jupalli Krishna Rao said the government was considering steps to protect Pocharam Reservoir and had proposals for the restoration of Nagannabavi.
Responding to MLA Paidi Rakesh Reddy’s query on preserving ancient temples submerged under the Sri Ram Sagar Project in Nandipet of Armoor constituency, minister Konda Surekha said the Telangana forest department was promoting eco-tourism. She stated that the government had transferred 1.20 acres in Sy No. 618 at Ummeda village near SRSP and 3 acres in Sy No. 71 at Jalalpur to the Telangana Forest Development Corporation to facilitate eco-tourism development.
