Telangana Minister for Panchayati Raj and Rural Development, Dansari Anasuya (Seethakka), has that as many as 3,480 applications have been received for overseas scholarships for the year 2024-25, of them, 1,310 students have to be selected for which verification of documents are under progress, and the eligible candidates will receive the overseas scholarships.
The minister clarified that the Congress government will continue the scheme to help poor and weaker section students to pursue higher studies abroad. Replying to a question raised by Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), KP Vivekananda and others during the question hour on Wednesday, December 18, the minister said that the government has paid Rs 140.74 crore to students under overseas scholarships and still have to pay another Rs 104 crore, as the deadline is next March, 2025.
"We will complete the selection and make payments by the end of December 2024'', the minister said.
Seethakka informed that against 8,723 students who studied abroad under Overseas Scholarships, around Rs 1,396.26 crore were released to date.
Vivekananda criticised the government saying some are demanding commissions for granting scholarships, prompting Legislative Affairs Minister D Sridhar Babu to intervene. Terming the allegations as baseless, Sridhar Babu said that there was no excuse for a senior member to make such comments. He said that Vivekananda is aware of the Assembly rules. He said that it was inappropriate to make arbitrary allegations against the government and requested the Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar to expunge the remarks. The speaker expunged the remarks from the records.
