After private professional colleges raised concerns over unpaid reimbursement fees, the Best Available School Managements (BASM) Association across Telangana has barred students enrolled under the Best Available School Scheme (BASS) from attending classes.

As reported by Meghna Nath of The New Indian Express, the decision comes after the state government failed to clear pending scholarship dues amounting to Rs 250 crore, pending for the past two-and-a-half years. Launched in 2008 by the then undivided Andhra Pradesh government, the BASS scheme aims to provide corporate-level education to children from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities by covering their tuition fees.

The scheme currently operates in over 227 private schools across Telangana, benefiting nearly 25,000 students. The BASM Association stated that while the initiative is beneficial, the delay in reimbursement has left schools unable to sustain the financial burden. “For more than two years, we have been struggling to manage the expenses.

The state was supposed to reimburse the costs, but not a single rupee has been released so far. We are unable to pay off loans, hostel expenses, building rents and staff salaries. With no alternative, we have denied entry to students under the scheme after the Dasara vacation,” said Yadagiri Sekhar Rao, general secretary of the Association.

Another member, Jayasimha, said, “Despite repeated meetings with officials, there has been no response. We recently submitted a representation to the state government, but it went unheard. It would help if the pending dues were released in instalments.”