Fee reimbursement dues: 2,000 Telangana pvt colleges to shut down indefinitely from Sep 15

The Federation of Associations of Telangana Higher Education has set September 21 as a deadline for clearing Rs.1,800 crore dues for which tokens were issued, failing colleges planned a huge protest with lakhs of students on September 23 and 24.

Hyderabad: The Congress government’s indifferent attitude and inordinate delay in releasing fee reimbursement dues is set to jeopardise the academics of several lakh students, as around 2,000 private professional and degree colleges are scheduled for indefinite closure commencing September 15.

The private colleges have also resolved to observe September 15 which is observed as Engineers’ Day as a ‘Black Day’.

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Federation of Associations of Telangana Higher Education Institutions (FATHI) Chairman N Ramesh Babu set September 21 as the deadline for releasing Rs.1,800 crore fee dues for which tokens were issued by the government.

“If the government fails to respond, we will hold a huge protest with lakhs of students on September 23 and 24,” he said.

He asked students not to come to their colleges and said buses will not be sent out. “We will lock the college gates,” he announced.

FATHI general secretary Ravi Kumar said colleges will not be holding any examinations till the matter is resolved.

The FATHI, which held its emergency general body meeting, demanded release of all pending dues to the tune of Rs. 8,000 crore from previous years with 50 percent on or before October 31 and remaining before December 31.

Ramesh Babu wanted the government to release a GO, introducing a new reimbursement system, with September 30 as the deadline to clear the fees every academic year commencing with 2025-26.

The colleges wanted the government to clear dues for the academic year 2025-26 before March 31,2026. The management also wanted a feasibility report on the Trust Bank proposal by October 31.

According to colleges, due to delayed fee reimbursements, faculty and staff across institutions have been suffering without salaries for several months.

“On the behalf of all managements, I express apology to faculty members for not being able to pay salaries in time due to the ongoing fee reimbursement issue with the government,” Ramesh Babu added.