Telangana govt backtracks on FAST - TeluguPeople.com News

Hyderabad: The Telangana government withdrew its controversial scheme Financial Assistance to Students of Telangana (FAST), which was aimed at reimburse fees only to native students with 1956 as cut-off year.

A decision to this effect was taken at the marathon seven-hour Cabinet meeting held under the leadership of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. 'The Cabinet has decided to withdraw the FAST scheme and implement the fee-reimbursement scheme in its earlier format.

The controversy over FAST is now a closed chapter,' KCR told media in the post-Cabinet briefing. The Chief Minister said the fee-reimbursement scheme in its existing form would be implemented in Telangana, strictly in accordance with the Article 371 D of the Constitution.

The government had earlier contemplated the FAST scheme which said those students whose parents were bonafide residents of Telangana on or before November 1, 1956 will alone be eligible for fee reimbursement.

The decision to withdraw FAST scheme was apparently taken following a recent reprimand from the Hyderabad High Court, which directed the Telangana government to justify the cut-off date of the first day of November 1956 for providing the benefit of fee reimbursement to students studying in the State.

The bench wanted a detailed counter-affidavit filed in this regard. The Chief Minister said that the government would clear all the arrears of the fee reimbursement and would pay Rs 860 crores to the colleges. He said that the arrears of this year would also be cleared soon.

The government decided to shift the secretariat from the current location to Erragadda area within one year time where integrated government offices complex would be built. He said that the decision has been taken since the present location has Vastu faults and all the previous government suffered the setbacks.

He said that at present most of the heads of the department officers were at various places and there was a need to bring them to one place. He said that the chest hospital at Erragadda has to be shifted at anyway even if secretariat was not established.

KCR said that an amount of Rs 150 crore was earmarked for the construction of new Secretariat and it would be built in one year time. He said the problems arising due to the shifting of chest hospital like losing PG medical seats, dislocation of employees would be addressed suitably.

Justifying the decision to shift the chest hospital to TB sanatorium at Vikarabad, he said that the sanatorium has eight patients and 200 staff. KCR said that the present chest hospital has been donated by the Nizam for the treatnment of TB patients who needed a hygiene and clean atmosphere.

Due to the expansion of the city, the hospital was surrounded with pollution, he informed. The CM said that on the request of the people modifictions were made to the GOs 58 and 59 which enable the poor, living in government lands, to get title of the land. He said that poor people living in area of more than 125 sq yards would be provided incremental yards regularization facility. He informed that for every sq yard occupied over and above would be regularized by charging ten per cent of the registration value.

He informed that the those occupied more than 125 sq yards and did not come under poor category would be given a chance to pay the initial amount in two installments and the rest in three installments.

The CM said that for regularisation of plots up to 250 sq yards, the amount has been reduced by 50 per cent and they could pay the amounts in two installments. KCR said that people occupied from 250 sq yards to 500 sq yards would be charged 50 per cent of the market value and those encroached more than 500 sq yards would be charged 75 per cent of the market value.

He informed that applications would be received up to March 10 and the amounts could be payable in the next financial year. The CM said that issuing of certificates for the applicants of the scheme would begin from February 20.

The CM said that as part of fulfilling the promises made to the God for bestowing statehood to Telangana, the government would offer Rs 5 crore worth ornaments to Lord Venkateswara of Tirupati, gold mustaches to lord Siva, gold nostrils to Kanakaduga and Padmavati deities. He said that the government would built a lodging house at Azmir Dargah in Rajasthan.

Informing the other decisions, he said that government would give employment to 550 artists, it would built fish, vegetable and meat markets with a cost of Rs 100 crore in the municipal areas and it has been decided to ensure that all the vegetable wending platforms were put at three feet height from the ground.

He made it clear that heritage status was not a hard and fast rule and it would be amended if some heritage structures were needed to be erased for public consumptions.