PG students suffer as govt stops fee reimbursement

Vijayawada: Poor and middle class students who have been pursuing post-graduation courses in private educational institutions since 2019 are facing major problems as the state government has stopped fee reimbursement alleging that irregularities had taken place during the TDP government.

This has resulted in a major problem as the colleges are demanding that the students clear the fee dues failing which they would withhold their SSC, Intermediate and degree certificates. '

Sai Swetha, a student of Hindu College, Machilipatnam, said that she had studied her MBA in 2019-2021. She was eligible for fee reimbursement at that time. But since the present state government did not reimburse the fee, the college is refusing to release her certificates, which includes MBA certificate. She said because of this she was missing on job opportunities.

When contacted, the college authorities said that they were experiencing severe fund crunch since the government was not reimbursing the fees for PG students since 2019. They said the case was same with all other colleges too. The college authorities said that they were even finding it difficult to pay salaries to the staff.

A check with some more colleges by The Hans India revealed that the situation was similar in most of the PG colleges. One of the parents in Vijayawada said that they had to pay through their nose to clear fee dues before they could get the certificates. The government can probe into any irregularities, but it should not subject students to such suffering, he added.

The officials said that the policy of the YSRCP government was to transfer money into the accounts of the mother under Amma Vodi scheme and this money can be used for education of their children up to degree level. They said probe into the alleged irregularities by the previous government was on.