The TDP government has brought higher education in Andhra Pradesh to a breaking point. Colleges are threatening students with exam denial if they don’t clear fee dues. Students who cannot pay are being barred from appearing in their final examinations. The education that was protected and promoted under YSRCP is being systematically dismantled through accumulated dues, budget cuts, and broken promises. The gap is staggering ₹10,700 crore needed but so far only ₹2,766 crore has been allocated in the budget.
Total fee reimbursement dues across 9 quarters accounting to ₹700 crore per quarter, is ₹6,300 crore. Adding hostel dues of ₹2,200 crore, the total backlog reaches ₹8,500 crore, of which the Chandrababu government owes ₹6,100 crore from the last financial year alone. In the final quarter of the last financial year, ₹700 crore more became due.
The BRO Circular: Drama Without Delivery
In response to the growing crisis, the Chandrababu government issued a Budget Release Order (BRO) an official circular announcing the release of ₹1,200 crore for fee reimbursement. The circular was announced. Finance Minister Payyavula Keshav held a press conference. The government presented this as evidence of its commitment to student welfare.
But the money was not released. Months passed. The ₹1,200 crore remained on paper. Colleges continued not to receive payment. Students continued facing fee pressure. The BRO became a symbol of the gap between TDP’s announcements and its actual delivery.
What YSRCP Spent vs. What TDP Left Unpaid
The contrast between the two governments is documented and damning.
During the YSRCP government under YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, the state spent ₹18,663.44 crore on higher education covering fee reimbursement, Vasati Deevena (hostel accommodation assistance), Vidya Deevena (tuition fee reimbursement), and other student welfare schemes.
When the Chandrababu Naidu government came to power, it inherited and has since added to a backlog of ₹1,778 crore in unpaid dues to colleges. This amount, which YSRCP had been paying regularly, was left pending by the TDP government.
Additionally, TDP cancelled the Vasati Deevena scheme a direct cash transfer of ₹20,000 per year to students for hostel accommodation costs leaving hundreds of thousands of students without the residential support that had enabled them to study away from home.
