Corona has wreaked havoc in the lives of people. Life has gone back for many by at least five years. From villages up to the largest of modern cities, corona pandemic has disrupted and destroyed lives.
Lives are lost, livelihoods are lost. ‘Work From Home’ is the new norm. New appearance with masks has become inevitable. During these times, the government should provide solace to people. They should provide assurance to them on all aspects.They should make people feel that the government is with them, and they need not worry. People of both Telugu states are looking for this assurance and guarantee from their governments.
Gujarat has done…Odisha is doing
Gujarat government has restrained school managements from pressurizing parents for fees. It issued some guidelines to schools, according to which they should give 25% concession in regular fee. The Education Minister held a meeting with representatives of the school managements and reminded them that they too have the social responsibility to help distressed parents.
He also warned them of consequences if they do not fall in line. As a result, private schools have decided to reduce fees by 25% as instructed by the government. This announcement was made by Gujarat Education Minister himself. On the other hand, Odisha, a neighbour of Andhra Pradesh, is also discussing with school managements to extract similar concessions in fees. Going one step ahead of Gujarat, the Odisha government is asking schools to reduce fee by 30%. It is reported that private managements have responded positively to the suggestion. Schools are going to reopen in both the states in a week’s time. Parents of the children will have their burden eased significantly with these fee cuts.
What will Telugu Chief Ministers do?
People of both Telugu states are wishing that their chief ministers K Chandrashekar Rao and YS Jaganmohan Reddy too follow the example of Gujarat and Odisha. Private schools in both the states collect fee in lakhs of rupees. People feel that Coronavirus crisis presents a good opportunity to control this loot. Even litigations are going on in courts over the exploitation by private schools. There are also suggestions that it would benefit the two chief ministers politically if they crack the whip on exorbitant fees being extracted by private schools who are taking advantage of this pandemic.
