Harish Rao demands immediate release of pending fee reimbursement dues

BRS leader T Harish Rao demanded immediate release of pending fee reimbursement dues, alleging that delays had pushed private degree and postgraduate colleges into a financial crisis. He said nearly Rs 10,000 crore remained pending and warned of Assembly session disruption.

Hyderabad: BRSLP deputy leader T Harish Rao demanded immediate release of pending fee reimbursement dues, questioning the Congress government’s delay in pushing private degree and postgraduate colleges into a severe financial crisis. He said colleges had been struggling for the past two-and-a-half years as fee reimbursement funds were not released on time.

“Faculty and non-teaching staff in some institutions had allegedly gone without salaries for five to 10 months, while managements are finding it difficult to meet rents, power bills, university fees and other operational expenses,” he added. He demanded that a permanent mechanism be introduced to ensure timely payments every academic year.

---

Harish Rao said the number of private degree colleges in Telangana fell from around 960 to about 650, with nearly 310 institutions shutting down in the last three years. He warned that continued delays could force more colleges to close, particularly affecting rural Telangana where private institutions provide higher education to large numbers of students.

He said the impact would be severe on poor and disadvantaged students, including those from SC, ST, BC, minority and EWS communities, for whom fee reimbursement was an important support.

The former Minister reminded that the previous BRS government inherited Rs 2,500 crore in fee reimbursement arrears from the Congress government in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, but cleared them while continuing the scheme. He stated that the K Chandrashekhar Rao government paid Rs 19,500 crore towards fee reimbursement over nine and a half years. He alleged that despite three State budgets under the Congress government, nearly Rs 10,000 crore in fee reimbursement remained pending.

He warned that the BRS would stall the upcoming Assembly session if the government failed to clear the pending reimbursement dues.