The state government on Monday warned that professional colleges would face closure if they harass students over the non-payment of fees which has to be reimbursed by the government.
The managements of professional colleges hit back at the government , calling it “shameless” for issuing such threats when it owed them Rs 2,000 crore. They alleged that it was trying to scrap the scheme after gaining political mileage from last year’s Assembly elections.
The college managements have also refuted the government’s claim that it has released Rs 500 crore and alleged that the funds were diverted to other schemes.
“The government’s claim that it released Rs 500 crore so far is totally false. We have not received a single paisa. It has diverted the funds meant for students to Jalayagnam contractors. It has no sincerity or sympathy towards poor students,” said Mr N. Ramesh, representative of Consortium of Engineering Colleges Managements Association.
Meanwhile, the BJP state president, Mr G. Kishen Reddy, began a fast-unto-death demanding that the government release funds. However, the police took him into preventive custody and shifted him to Gandhi Hospital.
The Backward Classes leader, Mr R. Krishnaiah, is continuing his fast.
The higher education minister, Mr D. Sridhar Babu and the technical education minister, Mr M. Venkatarama, said the government would take stringent action against professional colleges if students are denied hall tickets for exams or for attendance.
“Every eligible student’s fees will be reimbursed even if it runs into hundreds of crores. The Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, has made a promise in this regard and there is no need to worry,” Mr Sridhar Babu said.
He said the fast undertaken by the two political leaders is more of a “political game”. The Telugu Desam, too, is trying to take political advantage of the situation, the minister alleged.
Showing posts with label State Government. Show all posts
Showing posts with label State Government. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
House to vote on Hyderabad
The state Assembly will pass a unanimous resolution on Thursday recommending the deletion of a clause in the Presidential Order that is coming in the way of treating Hyderabad as part of sixth zone in police recruitments.
This decision was taken at a meeting convened by the Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, with floor leaders of all parties in the Assembly on Wednesday.
The move was necessiated by the Supreme Court’s dismissal of a review petition filed by the state government against its ruling that Hyderabad could be considered a “free zone” for police recruitments.
Since the issue is sensitive, it was decided that the Chief Minister would move a one-line resolution and the House would adopt the same without any debate. Mr Rosaiah did the spadework for smooth passage of the resolution by making his ministers talk to the leader of opposition, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, in this regard.
In the SC order it was stated that paragraph 14 (f) in the Presidential Order excluded police officers defined under Hyderabad City Police Act 1348 Fasli from the zonal regulations.
The Assembly resolution will now seek the deletion of paragraph 14 (f) from the Presidential Order.
The advocate-general, Mr D.V. Seetharama Murthy, told the all-party meeting convened by the Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, to discuss the free-zone row that the state could file a curative petition, but the parties opted for an amendment to the Presidential Order.
The meeting also felt that there was no need for approval of Parliament for the proposed changes as the Presidential Order was an executive order. It was decided that the Assembly resolution would be forwarded to the Union home ministry, which in turn would take up the issue with the President. The parties urged the state government to ensure that there was no delay in getting orders from the President.
Earlier, the Telugu Desam sought an immediate resolution as soon as the Assembly was convened in the morning. Other Opposition parties joined the chorus.
However, in a strategic move, the Chief Minister proposed that an all-party meeting first. Sources close to Mr Rosaiah said he wanted a commitment from TD in the backdrop of the legislators divided on regional lines.
The government then opted for a meeting of floor leaders in the Assembly apparently to avoid the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, whose MLAs quit the House.
Though the TD delegation had leaders from all the regions there was no opposition to the government suggestion and similar was the case with Praja Rajyam. The MIM, Left, BJP and Lok Satta too extended support to the move.
This decision was taken at a meeting convened by the Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, with floor leaders of all parties in the Assembly on Wednesday.
The move was necessiated by the Supreme Court’s dismissal of a review petition filed by the state government against its ruling that Hyderabad could be considered a “free zone” for police recruitments.
Since the issue is sensitive, it was decided that the Chief Minister would move a one-line resolution and the House would adopt the same without any debate. Mr Rosaiah did the spadework for smooth passage of the resolution by making his ministers talk to the leader of opposition, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, in this regard.
In the SC order it was stated that paragraph 14 (f) in the Presidential Order excluded police officers defined under Hyderabad City Police Act 1348 Fasli from the zonal regulations.
The Assembly resolution will now seek the deletion of paragraph 14 (f) from the Presidential Order.
The advocate-general, Mr D.V. Seetharama Murthy, told the all-party meeting convened by the Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, to discuss the free-zone row that the state could file a curative petition, but the parties opted for an amendment to the Presidential Order.
The meeting also felt that there was no need for approval of Parliament for the proposed changes as the Presidential Order was an executive order. It was decided that the Assembly resolution would be forwarded to the Union home ministry, which in turn would take up the issue with the President. The parties urged the state government to ensure that there was no delay in getting orders from the President.
Earlier, the Telugu Desam sought an immediate resolution as soon as the Assembly was convened in the morning. Other Opposition parties joined the chorus.
However, in a strategic move, the Chief Minister proposed that an all-party meeting first. Sources close to Mr Rosaiah said he wanted a commitment from TD in the backdrop of the legislators divided on regional lines.
The government then opted for a meeting of floor leaders in the Assembly apparently to avoid the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, whose MLAs quit the House.
Though the TD delegation had leaders from all the regions there was no opposition to the government suggestion and similar was the case with Praja Rajyam. The MIM, Left, BJP and Lok Satta too extended support to the move.
Parties reject curative plea
The advocate-general, Mr D.V. Seetharama Murthy, told the all-party meeting convened by the Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, to discuss the free-zone row that the state could file a curative petition, but the parties opted for an amendment to the Presidential Order.
The meeting also felt that there was no need for approval of Parliament for the proposed changes as the Presidential Order was an executive order.
It was decided that the Assembly resolution would be forwarded to the Union home ministry, which in turn would take up the
issue with the President.
The parties urged the state government to ensure that there was no delay in getting orders from the President.
Earlier, the Telugu Desam sought an immediate resolution as soon as the Assembly was convened in the morning.
Other Opposition parties joined the chorus.
However, in a strategic move, the Chief Minister proposed an all-party meeting first.
Speaking in Vijayawada, Mr Lagadapati Rajagopal supported the SC verdict on the free zone issue.
The meeting also felt that there was no need for approval of Parliament for the proposed changes as the Presidential Order was an executive order.
It was decided that the Assembly resolution would be forwarded to the Union home ministry, which in turn would take up the
issue with the President.
The parties urged the state government to ensure that there was no delay in getting orders from the President.
Earlier, the Telugu Desam sought an immediate resolution as soon as the Assembly was convened in the morning.
Other Opposition parties joined the chorus.
However, in a strategic move, the Chief Minister proposed an all-party meeting first.
Speaking in Vijayawada, Mr Lagadapati Rajagopal supported the SC verdict on the free zone issue.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
State resolution seeks BC quota
The state government on Saturday reintroduced a resolution requesting the Central government to provide 33.33 per cent reservations for Backward Classes including Muslims in the Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies.
The Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, introduced the resolution and the House unanimously passed the same.
The late chief minister Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy had moved the same resolution on August 29, 2008 and ensured that it was unanimously accepted in the House.
The House reiterated the recommendation already made earlier as the MIM stalled the proceedings for two days demanding political reservations for Muslims.
Amidst noisy scenes, the House adopted the resolution without any debate. No political party leader was given a chance to speak on the resolution.
The resolution asked the Centre to bring necessary amendment to the Constitution to provide the reservation.
The MIM floor leader, Mr Akbaruddin Owaisi, and his team were hell bent on extending the political reservations to Muslims in the wake of the introduction of Women Reservation Bill in the Parliament.
The MIM argued that the Women Reservation Bill would deprive the community of its place in the legislature.
The Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, introduced the resolution and the House unanimously passed the same.
The late chief minister Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy had moved the same resolution on August 29, 2008 and ensured that it was unanimously accepted in the House.
The House reiterated the recommendation already made earlier as the MIM stalled the proceedings for two days demanding political reservations for Muslims.
Amidst noisy scenes, the House adopted the resolution without any debate. No political party leader was given a chance to speak on the resolution.
The resolution asked the Centre to bring necessary amendment to the Constitution to provide the reservation.
The MIM floor leader, Mr Akbaruddin Owaisi, and his team were hell bent on extending the political reservations to Muslims in the wake of the introduction of Women Reservation Bill in the Parliament.
The MIM argued that the Women Reservation Bill would deprive the community of its place in the legislature.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
No T-evaluators for T-students
The state government has rejected the demand of the Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC) that the Intermediate exam answer sheets of students from the Telangana region should only be evaluated by evaluators hailing from the T-region.
It has been a regular practice for the Board of Intermediate Education (BIE) to send answer scripts of a particular district to spot valuation centres in other districts.
However, the TJAC has demanded a “region-wise” evaluation this time, arguing that evaluators from Andhra may award less marks to T-students in the present political conditions.
The TJAC convener, Prof. Kodandaram, met the BIE secretary, Mr G. Balaramaiah, twice to put forth the demand. Several Congress, Telugu Desam and Telangana Rashtra Samiti politicians from the T-region also made representations to the Board as did student unions who demonstrated in front of the BIE office.
The Board referred the matter to the government to take a final call. The government has rejected the demand saying that there are already enough precautionary measures in place to ensure “fair valuation”.
“Our intermediate education has a good reputation nationally as a major chunk of seats in national-level competitive exams like IITJEE, AIEEE, AFMC, etc., are bagged by our students every year,” said the minister for secondary education, Mr D. Manikya Vara Prasada Rao.
“If we alter the system for petty politics, it will do more harm than good,” he added.
He also said that there were enough provisions in the existing evaluation system to protect the identity of students.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
SEZs give up status for land
Promoters of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) are now queuing up before the state government for de-notification of SEZ status.
This is a fallout of the Centre indicating that the state government’s No Objection Certificate (NOC) is required to make the land a free hold, particularly to those firms that availed land from the government.
Once de-notified, the promoters can make use of the land for any real estate purpose. Or they can keep it till the market picks up and then sell it.
The government allotted its own land to several SEZs and in some cases it also acquired land from the private persons and in turn allotted it to SEZs.
Sources said the SEZ board of approvals of the Union commerce ministry has deferred the decision on Indu Tech
Zone’s request to de-notify 46.54 hectares out of its already notified 60.70 hectares. This will limit the processing zone to 14.16 hectares.
“Indu’s approaching for de-notification itself is illegal as it had committed to the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) not to reduce its SEZ area,” said a senior official.
This is a fallout of the Centre indicating that the state government’s No Objection Certificate (NOC) is required to make the land a free hold, particularly to those firms that availed land from the government.
Once de-notified, the promoters can make use of the land for any real estate purpose. Or they can keep it till the market picks up and then sell it.
The government allotted its own land to several SEZs and in some cases it also acquired land from the private persons and in turn allotted it to SEZs.
Sources said the SEZ board of approvals of the Union commerce ministry has deferred the decision on Indu Tech
Zone’s request to de-notify 46.54 hectares out of its already notified 60.70 hectares. This will limit the processing zone to 14.16 hectares.
“Indu’s approaching for de-notification itself is illegal as it had committed to the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) not to reduce its SEZ area,” said a senior official.
Industry given 2-day power holiday
The state government has given one more jolt to industry by asking the sector to take holidays twice a week and also to stop production between 6 pm and 10.30 pm every day. This would force most industrial units to suspend one shift of production. With the steep increase in electricity demand, power distribution companies (discoms) have asked industry to take their regular ‘weekly holiday’ apart from the one-day power holiday announced by the government.
The industrial sector consumes about 35 per cent of power in the state and discoms hope to save electricity by imposing more curbs.
These restrictions would cause much difficulty to industrial units that need to be run continuously. The ferro alloys industry needs power round-the-clock, but the discoms have asked them to run at 70 per cent plant load factor.
“Power shortage has intensified with the combined demand of summer and Rabi season,” said a senior APTransco official. “The state government has only permitted us to buy 120 MW per day when gap between demand and supply is more than 1,200 MW.”
All industries using above 30 horsepower capacity have been brought under power holiday and even agriculture power supply has been divided into three phases.
Power holiday for industries in and around Hyderabad will be decided after consulting industrial estate associations. Indus-tries in Visakhapatnam will have power holiday on Thursday, Srikakulam on Monday, Vizianagaram on Tuesday, Visakha rural on Wednesday, Rajahmundry on Friday and Eluru circle on Saturday.
The power cut in rural areas has been increased to eight hours from six hours and in district headquarters to two hours from one hour.
All towns will have load shedding for two to four hours while Hyderabad city will continue to have one-hour official power cut.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
HC calls Girish lawless, blasts police for caning
The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday blasted the state government for the lathicharge of girl students in the Osmania University and firing of teargas shells into hostel rooms.
A division bench comprising acting Chief Justice T. Meena Kumari and Justice G. Chandraiah upheld as “reasonable” a single judge’s order to evict armed forces from the OU campus and asked the advocate-general whether the government had any justification for highhandedness of the police.
Adding to the state government’s discomfiture, Justice L. Narasimha Reddy of the High Court termed the director general of police, Mr R.R. Girish Kumar, a “lawless” person for ignoring the court order to remove paramilitary and special forces as well as barricades from the OU campus and also summoned Mr P.S.R. Anjaneyulu, joint commissioner of Hyderabad, to explain the reasons for the attack on scribes.
The division bench, which dismissed the state’s appeal against the order of the single judge, observed that keeping paramilitary forces on the campus only deteriorated the situation further.
“How long will you retain the armed forces on the pretext of restricting outside elements from entering the campus?” the judge asked.
“They fired rubber bullets at women,” added Justice Meena Kumari. “Thank God they did not fire real bullets. I stay adjacent to the campus and I have noticed normalcy. Let the civil police handle the situation.”
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Centre for smooth Assembly session: Rosaiah
Chief Minister K.Rosaiah reportedly told his Cabinet colleagues that the party’s central leadership and the Union Government were keen that the budget session of the Assembly commencing from February 15 be conducted without any disruption.
At an informal review meeting with a group of 10 Ministers here on Tuesday, Mr. Rosaiah told his colleagues that the Centre was closely watching every political development in the State. “Let us all try and ensure that the budget session runs without any hurdles,” he is reported to have told his colleagues. Ministers, who attended the meeting, admitted that the Chief Minister’s message quoting the central leadership was like a warning. A Minister remarked that Mr. Rosaiah had conveyed them the message that if the House fails to function smoothly, it would be a loss of face for the government.
The Chief Minister is said to have remarked that the Union Government had issued ample indications that it wanted the Centrally-sponsored programmes to continue without any hindrance owing to current political unrest. “The Centre has promised to do its best to provide more funds for the Centrally-sponsored schemes. It is our duty to utilise the funds and successfully implement the schemes,” he was quoted by a Minister as remarking. It is understood that the Chief Minister agreed to release funds to the tune of Rs. 90-lakh per mandal to take up developmental works on nomination basis. The funds are expected to be released before the budget session commences. Similarly, the Assembly Constituency Development Programme (ACDP) funds to tune of Rs. One crore for each constituency would also be released immediately. Sources said the Health Minister Danam Nagender reportedly wanted the in charge ministers for district changed on the grounds that some of them were unable to devote time for interacting with the party leaders as well as the officials. Panchayat Raj Minister Botcha Satyanarayana reportedly opposed such a move saying that it was late Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who had selected the Ministers and allotted the districts as per the requirements.
At an informal review meeting with a group of 10 Ministers here on Tuesday, Mr. Rosaiah told his colleagues that the Centre was closely watching every political development in the State. “Let us all try and ensure that the budget session runs without any hurdles,” he is reported to have told his colleagues. Ministers, who attended the meeting, admitted that the Chief Minister’s message quoting the central leadership was like a warning. A Minister remarked that Mr. Rosaiah had conveyed them the message that if the House fails to function smoothly, it would be a loss of face for the government.
The Chief Minister is said to have remarked that the Union Government had issued ample indications that it wanted the Centrally-sponsored programmes to continue without any hindrance owing to current political unrest. “The Centre has promised to do its best to provide more funds for the Centrally-sponsored schemes. It is our duty to utilise the funds and successfully implement the schemes,” he was quoted by a Minister as remarking. It is understood that the Chief Minister agreed to release funds to the tune of Rs. 90-lakh per mandal to take up developmental works on nomination basis. The funds are expected to be released before the budget session commences. Similarly, the Assembly Constituency Development Programme (ACDP) funds to tune of Rs. One crore for each constituency would also be released immediately. Sources said the Health Minister Danam Nagender reportedly wanted the in charge ministers for district changed on the grounds that some of them were unable to devote time for interacting with the party leaders as well as the officials. Panchayat Raj Minister Botcha Satyanarayana reportedly opposed such a move saying that it was late Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who had selected the Ministers and allotted the districts as per the requirements.
