Telangana Govt agrees to evolve mechanism to ensure deserving students benefit from Overseas Scholarship Scheme

Telangana Legislative Affairs Minister D. Sridhar Babu speaking in the Assembly.
| Photo Credit: Screengrab of video on handle @OffDSB on X

Telangana Government has agreed to convene a meeting of all political parties to elicit their views on the implementation of the Overseas Scholarship Scheme for students and evolve mechanism to ensure that only genuinely poor are benefited from the government-sponsored incentive.

All party meeting

Legislative Affairs Minister D. Sridhar Babu said the government is prepared to convene a meeting of the political parties on the issue if all the parties come forward. He was responding to a suggestion by MIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi in the Legislative Assembly on Monday (March 24, 2025).

Lack of verification of credentials for EBC certificates

Mr. Owaisi lamented that real deserving students from poorer sections were not getting the benefit of the well intentioned scheme and therefore, there was need for some corrective steps. “I have conducted a survey with my teams which revealed that students from well-to-do families are among the beneficiaries. This is because of absence of verification of credentials of those applying for the economically backward classes certificates by the officials concerned,” he said.

Mechanism to recover money from those settled abroad

He wanted details of students who came back after pursuing their studies abroad and serving the people here. “How many have come back after utilising the scholarship for their studies?” he asked. He went ahead to add that the government should evolve a mechanism to recover money from students who settle down abroad after utilising the government’s incentive for their studies. “There has to be a mechanism to recover money from those who settle down abroad instead of serving the State,” he said.

Welcoming the suggestion, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) member Palla Rajeshwar Reddy said the previous government took adequate care to scrutinise the applications and sanctioned the scholarships on merit basis. Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) P. Rakesh Reddy too expressed concern over ineligible students garnering the benefit of overseas scholarships. He wanted the government to convene an all party meeting to discuss the modalities and ensuring that the benefit reached genuine students.

Communist Party of India (CPI) member Kunamaneni Sambasiva Rao too concurred with the view but wanted the government to take adequate care while finalising the modalities in this direction.