BANGALORE: The National Commission for Scheduled Castes has sent a letter to the Karnataka government for failing to reimburse the fees of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes students in professional colleges. Three years ago, the government promised to reimburse the fee of students who got free seats and 60% – of the Rs-90,000 fee – of the amount for students who chose payment seats. The refunds were scheduled to begin from 2004-2005. The concessions for the first two years were released, though after a considerable delay. However, the fee concessions/subsidy for 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 are yet to be released.
The fee for students with free and payment seats are Rs 18,000 and Rs 88,000 per year, respectively. The commission has ordered an inquiry into the matter, issued a notice to the higher education secretary and threatened to issue court summons.
However, social welfare department officials are hopeful the government will resolve the issue at the earliest.
“We’ll take steps to ensure the fee concessions are released soon,” principal secretary R B Agawane said.
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