AP frames new scholarship policy for engineering students

The Andhra Pradesh government has de-linked the fee structure from the scholarship amount it pays to the students in all the 717 engineering colleges, including 30 government-run institutions. Besides, it has framed new eligibility criteria for availing of the fee reimbursement facility.

The move was primarily necessitated by the differential fee structure granted to about 85 private colleges (ranging from Rs 52,000 to Rs 1,05 lakh) by the AP high court while the rest of the institutions had agreed to the government ceiling of Rs 35,000 per year, according to chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy.

Besides this, the Supreme Court had directed the government to enforce uniform fee for the students who were admitted to the seats of the convenor quota (70 per cent) as well as the management quota (30 per cent).

 

Under the new framework the government will pay Rs 35,000 a year towards the annual fee for only those students who had completed their previous studies in government schools and colleges or with government sponsorship in private institutions. Hitherto, the fee reimbursement facility was available to all the students.

As an exception to this rule, the government, however, will pay fee to the full extent as charged by these colleges in the case of SC and ST candidates and for those who fall in the bracket of the first 10,000 ranks in the state-level entrance examination.

Over 200,000 students pass out from engineering colleges in the state every year.