R Krishnaiah leads Hyderabad protest demanding Rs 8,000 crore fee reimbursement

On Tuesday, Rajya Sabha MP and National BC Welfare Association president R Krishnaiah led a protest rally from Basheerbagh to the Ambedkar statue in Hyderabad to demand that the state government immediately release Rs 8,000 crore in pending fee reimbursement dues. The rally was organized to highlight the delay in releasing these funds, which have remained unpaid for the past two years.

Krishnaiah, speaking at the protest, alleged that the state government is planning to completely abandon the fee reimbursement scheme. He stated that if the government goes ahead with this plan, it will adversely affect several lakh BC, SC, and ST students across the state who rely on the scheme to fund their education.

During his address to the gathered protestors, Krishnaiah criticized the Chief Minister. He accused the Chief Minister of playing with the lives of students from poor and marginalized communities by failing to allocate adequate funds for the fee reimbursement scheme.

The Rajya Sabha MP also questioned the state government's budget allocations, pointing out that other government schemes continue to receive financial support. He challenged the Chief Minister's claims that there was no budget available for student welfare.

"The CM has repeatedly claimed that there was no budget for scholarships and fee reimbursement," Krishnaiah said. "Every scheme receives budgetary support, so how could there be no allocation for students’ scholarships and fee reimburesement?"

The protest rally concluded with a strong demand for the immediate release of the pending Rs 8,000 crore to prevent further disruption to the education of BC, SC, and ST students.