Hyderabad: BC students said to be from across the state laid siege to the Telugu Sankshema Bhavan on Friday, demanding immediate release of fee reimbursement dues amounting to Rs 6,000 crore. The organisers described the protest as a last resort.The protest was led by student leaders and received strong backing from R, Krishnaiah, Rajya Sabha MP and National BC Welfare Association president. Addressing the gathering, he criticised the government for treating scholarships and fee reimbursement schemes as dispensable and called it deliberate sabotage, saying the education department had lapsed Rs 5,000 crore in payments despite allocating funds through four departments. He asked why a state that borrows lakhs of crores for various schemes refuses to take a Rs 6,000 crore loan to secure the future of over 14 lakh students. He warned that the proposed replacement of the scheme was a backdoor attempt to dismantle one of the few programmes enabling marginalised children to pursue medicine, engineering, and postgraduate education. Vemula Ramakrishna, president of the Telangana BC Students’ Association, who also led the rally said the government’s negligence had turned higher education into a commodity. Over 16.75 lakh students were being kept from continuing their courses as college managements refused to issue certificates until dues were paid.
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