The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Fee reimbursement for minority students

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Wednesday, Jul 09, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Fee reimbursement for minority students

J.S. Ifthekhar

Complete tuition fee reimbursement for 27 courses from this year

Pre and post-matric scholarships also for minority students on a par with SCs
Decision to benefit 8.12 lakh students during the academic year 2008-09

Hyderabad: Monetary constraints will not be a problem for poor Muslim boys and girls pursuing higher education this year. They can pursue studies without worry as the government has come forward to pick up the bill of all eligible candidates. From this year onwards, the total tuition fee will be reimbursed by the government with regard to 27 different courses – right from Intermediate to MBBS.

Not just this. The government will also provide pre and post matric scholarships to minority students on a par with SCs. For this the income limit of parents/guardians has been revised to Rs. 1 lakh per annum from the existing Rs. 20,000 (pre matric) and Rs. 24,000 (post matric). Guidelines for sanction of scholarships and fee reimbursement on saturation basis have been issued under two separate GOs 26 and 27 recently. This decision will benefit 8.12 lakh students during the academic year 2008-09. The government will incur Rs.115.09 crore expenditure towards scholarship and fee reimbursement which is up from Rs. 60.44 crore during 2007-08.

“It is a historic decision and will go a long way in benefiting the minorities. In fact, no other State has this policy,” Minorities Welfare Minister Mohd. Ali Shabbir told The Hindu.

Courses

Some of the courses for which fee reimbursement will be provided are MBBS, engineering, pharmacy, MBA & MCA, B.Ed, Law, ME/M.Tec/M.Arch, M. Pharmacy, Dental, Degree (regular and restructured), P.G, Intermediate (regular and vocational), polytechnic ITI/ITCs, paramedical, DMLT. This year, the government will spend Rs. 54.49 crore towards payment of scholarship and Rs. 60.60 crore towards fee reimbursement against Rs. 44.13 crore and Rs. 16.31 crore last year.

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