Akbaruddin Owaisi raises concern over irregularities in fee reimbursement scheme

All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi has raised serious concerns over the irregularities in fee reimbursement scheme alleging that ineligible people are reaping the benefit of the government’s gesture at the expense of genuine students.

He pointed out to certain complicated issues surrounding the fee reimbursement during the question hour in the Telangana Legislative Assembly on Friday (September 11, 2026). According to Mr. Owaisi, minimum wages for skilled labour were to the tune of ₹1.98 lakh in rural areas and over ₹2.2 lakh in urban areas. “Given the wage stipulations in place, none will benefit from fee reimbursement,” he said.

There were issues wherein students need not reapply for reimbursement every year in spite of low attendance, which could result in misuse of the funds released by the government. He expressed concern that inordinate delays in the release of dues of fee reimbursement adversely affected the staff with thousands of teachers not getting their salaries in time.

Mr. Owaisi stressed the need for a comprehensive overhaul of the existing system with framing new rules and guidelines so that the scope for misuse of funds was averted. “There are a lot of irregularities in the implementation of the scheme. The mistakes of the previous government should be rectified,” he asserted.

The AIMIM leader acknowledged the financial constraints faced by the government in release of funds but said these could be overcome if the “leakages” in the GST collection were plugged. “As a responsible man, I can say the government can earn additional ₹2,000 crore if the leakages are plugged,” he said.

Industries and IT Minister D. Sridhar Babu said the government would soon call for an all party meeting to elicit views of the parties on the implementation of the scheme. “We are open for the constructive suggestions coming from political parties,” he said.