Free study to continue, AP withdraws GO

The minister for higher education, Mr Sridhar Babu, said there is no question of scrapping the free corporate education scheme for meritorious BC, SC and ST students.

“The Chief Minister reviewed the scheme and made it clear that there was no question of going back on it,” said the minister for higher education, Mr Sridhar Babu after the meeting. When reporters asked why the scheme was scrapped in the first place, the minister for BC welfare, Mr Mukesh Goud quipped: “Leave that issue now. We are saying that it will be continued.”

The meeting was attended by Cabinet ministers. It was the threat by BC, SC and ST unions to launch a state-wide agitation against the decision to abolish the scheme that forced the government to backtrack.

The scheme, introduced by the former chief minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, is aimed at admitting nearly 8,000 students in Intermediate courses in corporate junior colleges every year, so that they could go on to write competitive exams such as IIT-JEE, AIEEE, and AIIMS. About 16,000 students were admitted under the scheme in the last two years.