Akbaruddin Owaisi raises concern over irregularities in fee reimbursement scheme

There were issues wherein students need not reapply for reimbursement every year in spite of low attendance, which could result in misuse of the funds released by the government. He expressed concern that inordinate delays in the release of dues of fee reimbursement adversely affected the staff with thousands of teachers not getting their salaries in time.

Mr. Owaisi stressed the need for a comprehensive overhaul of the existing system with framing new rules and guidelines so that the scope for misuse of funds was averted. “There are a lot of irregularities in the implementation of the scheme. The mistakes of the previous government should be rectified,” he asserted.

The AIMIM leader acknowledged the financial constraints faced by the government in release of funds but said these could be overcome if the “leakages” in the GST collection were plugged. “As a responsible man, I can say the government can earn additional ₹2,000 crore if the leakages are plugged,” he said.

Industries and IT Minister D. Sridhar Babu said the government would soon call for an all party meeting to elicit views of the parties on the implementation of the scheme. “We are open for the constructive suggestions coming from political parties,” he said.