The increase in the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) to 8.64% (2019-2020) in Andhra Pradesh, which is way ahead of the country’s 3.04%, is due to the changes brought in the education sector, Chief Minister Y.S Jagan Mohan Reddy has said.
“We have made remarkable strides in the universal primary education. The increase in the GER of girls, which is 11.03% against the national average of 2.28%, reflects the change. I am happy that the GER of students belonging to the Scheduled Castes increased to 7.5% against the national average of 1.7%. Similarly, the GER growth rate of ST students is 9.5%,” Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said.
“We need to do more to ensure poverty never comes in the way of the children dreaming of pursuing higher studies,” he said.
The Chief Minister was addressing a public meeting at Bapatla before releasing the complete fee reimbursement of April-June 2022 under Vidya Deevena scheme. He credited ₹694 crore into the bank accounts of the mothers of 11.02 lakh students under the scheme.
Fee reimbursement
“Quality education alone will lift one out of the depths of poverty and despair. I want every child in the age group of 17 to 22 to face the challenges in the world for the next 80 years. The full fee reimbursement scheme is not limited to just one member of the family. I will pay the complete fees of all children in a family. Every family should have a doctor or an engineer or a Collector,” said Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Lashing out at the opposition parties, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said they had started comparing Andhra Pradesh with Sri Lanka. “My government has been spending huge money on welfare schemes with a budget that is similar to that of the previous government,” he added.
The compound annual growth rate of debt during the previous government (19%) was higher than the figure now, he said.
‘DBT vs DPT’
“We are able to do so much and with little debt because of the Direct Benefit Transfer scheme, which has done away with corruption. We are able to directly credit money into the bank accounts of the beneficiaries. We have opted for the DBT, while the previous TDP government plumped for DPT (‘Dochuko’, ‘Panchuko’, ‘Tinuko’!),” he said.
“I may not have the support of certain media outlets, but I have the support of people and blessings of God, and I promise to do much more to the people of my State,” Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said.
Ministers B. Satyanarayana and M. Nagarjuna; MLAs; MLCs; District Collector Vijaya Krishnan; DIG Trivikram Verma; and Superintendent of Police Vakul Jindal were present.
