BEST schools on the edge due to funding delays
KARIMNAGAR: The Telangana government’s flagship initiative to provide quality education to students from Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) under the BEST Available Schools (BAS) scheme is facing a severe crisis due to a prolonged delay in the release of funds.
Launched in 1990, the BAS scheme was designed to enable SC/ST students to access quality education by placing them in select private institutions. Currently, 150 private schools across the state participate in the scheme, offering 80 to 86 seats each to disadvantaged students. Approximately 25,000 students benefit annually — including 12,000 SC and 7,000 ST students.
The government is expected to allocate ₹42,000 per residential student and ₹28,000 for day scholars, totalling nearly ₹100 crore per year for the scheme’s implementation and maintenance. However, due to a funding delay stretching over two years, participating schools are now struggling to sustain operations.
Yadagiri Shekar Rao, state secretary of the BAS schools, said that private managements have resorted to taking loans and pawning gold to cover essential costs, including staff salaries and student meals. “Only ₹70 crore has been released in phases to a few districts like Gadwal, Nagarkurnool, Adilabad, Peddapalli, Jagtial, and Jayashankar Bhupalapally. But dues amounting to ₹130 crore remain pending for 27 other districts,” he said.
In Karimnagar alone, eight schools serve nearly 2,000 students under the scheme. School managements told Deccan Chronicle that they’ve made multiple representations to the education department, but the promised release of funds continues to be delayed. “A few districts managed to get funds through political pressure, but most are still waiting. We’ve now told the government — either release the funds or take over the schools. We cannot bear this burden any longer,” they said.
A principal, speaking on condition of anonymity, issued a distressing statement: “We are unable to pay teachers, repay loans, or even provide food to the children without borrowing. If the funds are not released this month, suicide might be our only option.”
In a desperate move, BAS school authorities are now planning a unique protest, urging the government to either clear all dues immediately or assume full control of the schools, with at least rental compensation to the current administrators.
