VIJAYAWADA: Strengthening the bond on Raksha Bandhan, Chief Minister Jagan Reddy on Thursday deposited the fee reimbursement funds of Rs 694 crore for the April-June quarter this year in the accounts of mothers of 11.02 lakh students.
This was done by the CM pressing a button at a programme in Bapatla.
Addressing the public, the chief minister alleged that some people were spreading false information against the welfare schemes of the AP government. What had the previous TD government done to help the poor, he asked.
The chief minister said his government was providing welfare benefits to the poor through ‘direct benefit transfer’ (DBT) to the beneficiaries’ bank accounts.
Jagan said total fee reimbursement was done on this festive day, and the money was deposited into the mothers’ bank accounts as part of his government’s attempts at social and economic empowerment of women.
Describing education as a treasure, the chief minister said such initiatives would be remembered by the students for long and would increase their self-confidence.
“In a fast-paced world, we should catch up with the evolving changes. We should prepare our SC, ST, BC segments, the Minorities and EBCs to face the competitive world with more confidence in their abilities. “That is why we have brought not just primary but even higher education under the Right to Education and are implementing total fee reimbursement, be it Rs 30,000 or Rs 1, 00,000.”
This scheme, the CM said, should help in bringing out an engineer, doctor or collector from each house. “The fee reimbursement will be done quarterly and the amount will be deposited directly into the bank accounts of mothers in the same quarter.”
“We have also cleared the dues of two years of the previous government, amounting to Rs 1,178 crore, which was not paid by Chandrababu. For this college itself, we have paid Rs 14 crore. We have spent Rs 11,715 crore towards the Jagananna Vidaya Deevena and the Jagananna Vasati Deevena during the three years.
Degree and Engineering students are getting Rs 20,000, Polytechnic students Rs 15,000 and ITI students Rs 10,000 to ensure that parents do not fall in a debt trap, the CM said.
Jagan said, “The various welfare measures being taken up by our government to revolutionize the education system include the Jagananna Amma Vodi, the YSR Sampoorna Poshana, the Jagananna Gorumuddha, the Jagananna Vidya Kanuka, the Mana Badi Nadu Nedu, the English medium, the Byju’s pact, among others.”’
“We have spent Rs 53,000 crore on education during the past three years with Amma Vodi topping the list at Rs 19,618 crore, Vidya Kanuka Rs 2,324 crore, the YSR Sampoorna Poshana Rs 4,895 crore, among others, to increase the GER ratio. Vested interests are unable to digest our initiatives and are spitting venom, but our government is committed to the causes of the poor.”
Deputy chief minister Satyanarayana, education Minister Botsa, social welfare minister Merugu Nagarjuna, Kona Raghupati, MPs, MLCs, MLAs and officials were present.
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