MN Samdani | TNN | Sep 8, 2016, 08.13 AM IST
VIJAYAWADA: Shattering the dreams of thousands of students hailing from the downtrodden sections, the Chandrababu Naidu government has decided not to grant reimbursement of tuition fee (RTF) those who do not possess white ration card. The software to process online applications of the students has been amended from the current academic year which is not accepting the forms without giving the number of white ration card. The software is not accepting even renewal applications of the students who got RTF in the previous years by submitting the ration card number. Earlier, an income certificate issued by tehsildar or self-affidavit was accepted as income proof in the absence of ration cards.
Thousands of students belonging to SC, ST and Backward Classes are in a quandary as the last date for submission of applications, September 10, is fast approaching. Panicked by the development, parents of students are making rounds to tehsildars' offices with applications for grant of white ration cards. However, the officials made it clear that there is a ban on issuance of new ration cards and they cannot clear their pleas in the near future.
It is strange to link white ration card to RTF as white ration cards are granted to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families with an annual income not exceeding Rs75,000, while RTF is granted to SC, ST students whose parents' income is below Rs 2 lakh and BC students whose parents' annual income is below Rs 1 lakh.
According to sources, the state government has decided to seek the ration card numbers only to trim the amounts being paid towards fee reimbursement. The government has been changing the fee reimbursement scheme citing one reason or the other in the guise of improving the standard of education at professional colleges.
In fact, the Chandrababu Naidu government made submission of Aadhaar number mandatory for clearance of RTF soon after coming to power two years ago to cut down the budgetary allocations for fee reimbursement. Although Aadhaar helped the government weed out the maximum number of bogus students enrolled by the college managements, its hunger for saving money did not end. After making 75 per cent attendance mandatory for getting RTF, the government has now directed all the colleges and universities to set up bio-metric machines to take the muster from current year.
However, the linking of ration card number with application for RTF has served a big jolt to the students from SC, ST and BC communities across the state.