Telangana seeks Centre’s support for Young India Integrated Residential Schools programme

Hyderabad, Sep 4 The Telangana government has sought special financial support and FRBM exemption for the Rs 30,000 crore Young India Integrated Residential Schools programme in the state.

A delegation led by Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi on Thursday and submitted a representation in this regard.

Vikramarka, who is also the State Finance Minister, explained that this Rs 30,000 crore initiative will transform education and nutrition for lakhs of children, empower marginalised communities, and strengthen India’s demographic dividend.

The delegation, including Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao, also urged the Union Finance Minister to give Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) exemption for this long-term human capital investment.

Sitharaman was told that the programme was launched to address the challenges of quality education and nutritious food for students.

She was informed that the majority of the Telangana population belongs to socially and educationally backward sections. As per SEEPEC data, 56.33 per cent belong to Backward Classes, 17.43 per cent to Scheduled Castes and 10.45 per cent to Scheduled Tribes.

The Deputy Chief Minister told Sitharaman that though Telangana is one of the fastest-growing economies in the country, the results are poor in the education and nutrition sectors. These inequalities have not helped in poverty alleviation, he said.

He explained that while successive governments set up residential schools in large numbers for SC, ST, BC and minority students, most of these institutions are functioning from rented premises or small buildings. These schools are running without comprehensive infrastructure facilities and educational resources.

To address these gaps, the State government formulated the Young India Integrated Residential Schools policy. As part of this, the government plans to establish 105 state-of-the-art, technology-based residential campuses. Each school will serve approximately 2,560 students from grades 5 to 12.

These schools will directly benefit 2.7 lakh students while also serving as support centres for around 5,250 neighbouring government schools. Bhatti Vikramarka explained that this will provide indirect benefits to nearly 4 lakh students.

The Deputy Chief Minister told Sitharaman that Young India Integrated Residential Schools strives to create a world-class learning environment for underprivileged children in Telangana in line with India's vision of inclusive and equitable education.

The estimated financial outlay for this comprehensive education policy is Rs. 30,000 crore. Out of this, Rs. 21,000 crore has been estimated for the construction of 105 campuses and Rs. 9,000 crore for supplementary investments in the education sector. Supplementary investments include strengthening government junior colleges, degree colleges, technical and vocational education institutions, and digital infrastructure to take the Telangana education system to world-class levels.

To mobilise these resources, the state government proposes to raise loans through a special-purpose corporation set up for construction and ancillary investments. Bhatti Vikramarka requested the Union Finance Minister to exempt these loans from the state FRBM limits, as this is a long-term capital investment in human development rather than a normal expenditure.

“The Telangana government considers this programme to be the biggest investment in children and youth ever made. We strongly believe that with the support of the Centre, these schools will become a national model,” he said and also requested the Central government to assist.

In addition, the Deputy CM requested the Union Finance Minister that, in view of the financial situation of the State, the Centre relax the limit on loans taken at high interest rates by the previous government and also restructure the loans.

The delegation also urged Sitharaman to increase the duty on palm oil, as the farmers are suffering due to the reduction in duty.

--IANS

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