The counselling for admission in Engineering and Medical colleges in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana on the basis of a common entrance test (Eamcet) has become a thorny issue for both the State Governments as they could not resolve the question of reimbursing the fee of the students of economically weaker sections.
Supreme Court on Wednesday posted the next hearing of the petition of the Telangana Government, seeking the extension of deadline for completing the counseling process till October, on July 21. Supreme Court, which had earlier set the deadline of July 31 for both the States to finish the counselling, has issued notices to the Andhra Pradesh Government and the All India Council of Technical Education. The apex court asked the AP Government to file a petition impleading itself in the case.
Supreme Court directed the AP Government to file its reply to the notice before the next hearing clarifying its stand on the combine admission in both the States as well as other related issues. The court asked when the entrance test was common, why the admission process can not be combined for both the States. The apex court also wanted to know whether the States can choose any of the colleges of Andhra Pradesh or Telangana or not. The court said that it would pass an order on Telangana Government’s petition only after hearing the AP Government. While Telangana has sought the delaying of the admission process, Andhra Pradesh Government wants to complete it at the earliest.
In its petition, which came up for hearing in the Supreme Court on Wednesday, Telangana Government has sought extension of the deadline on the ground that following the formation of the new State, the division of the Government officials and employees had still not taken place leading to the delay in collecting the necessary data for the fee reimbursement scheme.
What has become a stumbling block is the stand of Telangana Government that it will reimburse the fee of the students who were native of Telangana. KCR Government has proposed to take 1956 as a cut off date. The students, whose parents were natives of Telangana before 1956 will benefit from this scheme.
It has evoked a strong protest from Andhra Pradesh Government which wants Telangana Government to continue all the students studying in the State irrespective of their nativity. In simple words, the AP Government wants the Telangana counterpart to continue to bear the expenses of education of the students who belong to Seemandhra region.
Concerned over the impact of inordinate delay in the counseling, AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu took the matter to the Governor ESl Narasimhan and complained against the adamant attitude of the Telangana Chief Minister.
Naidu also complained to the Governor that KCR had not responded to his letter on the free reimbursement issue. He urged the Governor to intervene and resolve the issue at the earliest.
Going a step farther, AP Minister for social welfare R Kishore Babu said, “KCR is behaving like Hitler by issuing threats to the people of Seemandhra”. He rued that while academic year has started in other States, hundreds of thousands of students of the two States are suffering because of the delay in the counseling.
Telangana Government was hesitant to reimburse the fee of the non native student as it can put additional burden on the State exchequer when it was facing resources crunch.
Meanwhile the State BJP president G Kishan Reddy has demanded the Telangana Government to immediately solve the issue and go ahead with the counseling. “The State Government had earlier set that only 40,000 students were outsiders. But for such a small number of students, Telangana Government was spoiling the future of 14 lakh students”, he said. He said that the BJP would not accept 1956 as a cut off date.
The deadlock has also left the managements of hundreds of private engineering colleges in both the States worried as students are opting for the colleges in the neighboring States in view of the delay in counseling.