YSRCP Slams AP Government Over Talliki Vandanam Scheme, Alleges Eligible Students Being Left Out

Alleging that eligible students are being deprived of educational assistance due to restrictive conditions, YSRCP BC Cell Working President Ramesh Goud on Friday criticised the Andhra Pradesh government over the implementation of the Talliki Vandanam scheme and demanded that benefits be extended to every eligible student without any conditions.

Speaking to the media at the YSR Congress Party central office, Goud said financial constraints should never become a barrier to education for children from poor families. He recalled that former Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had launched the Amma Vodi scheme with the objective of ensuring that students from economically weaker sections remained in school and continued their education without interruption. According to him, the scheme provided much-needed support to lakhs of families and was implemented on a scale unmatched elsewhere in the country.

Goud alleged that after coming to power, the coalition government retained the programme under the new name Talliki Vandanam but diluted its original purpose by introducing what he described as arbitrary eligibility norms. He said the government had promised during the election campaign that assistance would be provided to every student without conditions, but had failed to fulfil that commitment after assuming office.

The YSRCP leader further claimed that the scheme was not fully implemented during the coalition government's first year in office and continued to operate only on a limited scale in its second year. He argued that a large number of deserving students were being excluded from the benefits.

Referring to UDISE data , Goud said Andhra Pradesh has nearly 87 lakh students , and providing ₹15,000 per student would require around ₹13,112 crore . However, he noted that the government had announced benefits for only 66 lakh students with an expenditure of ₹10,126 crore , which he described as a denial of support to many eligible beneficiaries.

He also claimed that the scheme would require nearly ₹39,000 crore over a three-year period, while the government had so far released only about ₹17,000 crore , leaving a shortfall of nearly ₹22,000 crore . Goud said Talliki Vandanam should be treated not merely as a welfare programme but as an educational intervention capable of transforming the future of poor students. He warned that the YSRCP would continue its fight on the issue if students' interests were compromised.