Hyderabad: Irrigation and civil supplies minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy reaffirmed the Congress government’s commitment to making quality education accessible to all sections of society.
He stressed the need for government-driven initiatives to uplift disadvantaged groups and address long-standing gaps in the education system.
Uttam Kumar Reddy was addressing the alumni meet of Dr BR Ambedkar Educational Institutions in Baghlingampally on Sunday, organised as part of the institution’s golden jubilee celebrations. The event coincided with the 10th death anniversary of Gaddam Venkatswamy, the institution’s founder.
Uttam Kumar Reddy spoke about the launch of Young India Integrated Residential Schools, which aim to provide English medium education up to Class 12. These schools, established on campuses spanning 20-25 acres, would cater to students from the SC, ST, BC and other underserved communities. “We’ve initiated these schools in 60 constituencies and plan to establish one in all 119 Assembly constituencies. The government will spend about Rs 5,000 crore on this initiative,” he said.
Uttam Kumar Reddy criticised the previous BRS government for neglecting the
primary education sector. “They did not recruit a single teacher in 10 years. Within six months of coming to power, we recruited 11,000 teachers and facilitated promotions and transfers. We’ve also appointed full-time Vice Chancellors in all universities,” he said.
He strongly criticised the BRS government for weakening the fee reimbursement scheme introduced earlier by the Congress regime. “Over `5,197 crore was left unpaid by the BRS government, forcing many private colleges to shut down. The Congress government, under Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Deputy CM Bhatti Vikramarka, is working to resolve this in a phased manner,” Uttam Kumar Reddy added.
Dignitaries, including Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad, transport minister Ponnam Prabhakar, MP Gaddam Vamsi Krishna, MLAs Nagaraju and Vivek Venkatswamy, former minister Dr P. Shankar Rao, college secretary and former minister G. Vinod, and correspondent Dr Saroja Vivek attended the event as did alumni from across India and abroad.
