The issue of establishment of residential educational institutions and alleged lack of facilities in welfare hostels saw a heated debate in the Telangana assembly today.
Participating in a short discussion on 'establishment of residential schools and colleges in the state', Komatireddy Venkata Reddy (Congress) alleged that some of the hostels in Nalgonda district were in a bad condition.
They lacked proper facilities like enough number of rooms and toilets, he alleged.
He said he did not understand the goal of 'Bangaru Telangana' (golden Telangana) talked about by the TRS government.
Noting that the government has made a beginning towards realising 'Bangaru Telangana', Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said the government never said the goal has already been achieved.
The government has established an "unprecedented" number of residential educational institutions for the benefit of poor students, he said.
The hostels referred to by the Congress member were established during the previous regime of that party and it is going to take time to address the situation, he said.
He said Rs 8,700 crore would be spent on these educational institutions by 2022. Another Rs 9,000 crore is required for constructions, he said.
The Centre is also finalising agenda of giving importance to residential education, Rao said.
Ramachandra Reddy (BJP) and S Venkata Veeraiah (TDP) talked about problems like constructing buildings and appointment of permanent staff to improve the functioning of the institutions.
Minister for Energy and Scheduled Castes Development G Jagadish Reddy said the residential schools have transformed the lives of students belonging to marginalised sections.
He said the students of the residential institutions got admissions in prestigious institutes. This included 60 in IITs, four in IIIT and 87 in medical stream.
Some of the students of residential institutions have scaled the world's highest peaks -- Mt Everest and Mt Kilimanjaro, Jagadish Reddy said.
The government planned to spend more than Rs 17,000 crore to provide quality education to the students belonging to poor families, he said.
The Congress, however, staged a walk out, alleging the government adopted a negligent attitude towards providing various facilities, including toilets.
Taking exception to the Congress members' protest, the minister alleged the opposition party neglected welfare of people when in power.
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