Telangana Assembly| Akbaruddin Owaisi demands immediate steps to release fee reimbursement dues to students

AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi threatens agitation if government doesn't release pending dues under fee reimbursement scheme, affecting students and staff.

Floor leader of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Akbaruddin Owaisi has threatened to take to agitational path if the government does not take steps to release at least some of the dues pending under the fee reimbursement scheme.

The AIMIM floor leader, who raised the issue during the Zero Hour in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday (December 17), said a huge amount of ₹5,020 crore was due towards fee reimbursement till the previous year and this would cross ₹8,000 crore by the end of the current year. Over seven lakh students who were enrolled under fee reimbursement scheme were facing acute problems as their certificates were not released by the managements of the respective institutions.

Over 20 lakh students were suffering problems as the government had not released dues of fee reimbursement. “Suicides by students are three times more than those by farmers,” he said citing reports.

In addition to students, four lakh staff of the educational institutions were suffering as their respective managements were not paying them salaries in time. “Managements on their part are unable to pay salaries as they are yet to receive dues of fee reimbursement,” he lamented.

Expressing concern that meritorious students were facing difficulties on account of the delays in release of funds, he demanded that the government release at least some portion of the dues as it would come as a major relief to students as well as the managements.

He asked all the political parties to join hands for the cause, cutting across political ideologies, as the issue concerned students who were among the main contributors to realisation of the dream of separate Telangana.