AP chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy is facing a piquant situation in the state after he relaunched a scholarship programme for the state students to pursue foreign education. The YSR Congress government had withheld the scheme after coming to power in 2019.
The scheme was originally launched during the Congress government in 2012 when N Kiran Kumar Reddy was the chief minister. The scheme was revised and the scholarship was enhanced by the TDP government in 2015 when Chandrababu Naidu was the chief minister.
The scheme was named after Dr Ambedkar and the students of SC and ST communities were sponsored to study in foreign countries. The government used to give this scholarship for the families whose annual income is less than Rs 6 lakh.
The TDP government had also launched another scheme named after NTR to provide scholarships for the BCs and Kapu students. Under the schemes named after Dr Ambedkar and NTR, the TDP government had sponsored several students to study in various countries around the world.
However, Jagan Mohan Reddy stopped the scheme after he assumed charge as the chief minister and revived only in the last week as dissent is brewing among the people, particularly those who have already gone to various countries and those who have plans to pursue higher education in other countries.
But, what became controversial is that the Jagan Mohan Reddy government dropped the name of Dr Ambedkar. The new scheme is named as Jagananna Videsi Vidya Devena.
The decision of the government has become a target point for the Dalits, particularly the opposition parties, to campaign against Jagan Mohan Reddy. The critics are questioning him for removing Dr Ambedkar’s name and adding his name.
Though Jagan Mohan Reddy had named Konaseema district after Dr Ambedkar, it is alleged that he had used Dr Ambedkar for political gains. Now, dropping Ambedkar’s name and adding his name is bringing him a negative image.
It is to be seen how the political parties and the Dalit activists respond to this decision of the Jagan Mohan Reddy government and how the chief minister would handle it.
