Hyderabad: Private degree, PG college administrators stage protests over delay in fee reimbursement

According to TPDPMA, the State govt has been allocating Rs.2,500 crore every year for fee reimbursement scheme out of which 40 per cent i.e., Rs.1,000 crore was allotted to non-professional programmes’ students.

Hyderabad: Vexed with the State government delays in releasing fee reimbursement arrears, scores of private degree and PG college administrators took to the streets in a unified protest here on Wednesday.

Administrators of around 900 colleges from across the State including from remote areas of Adilabad and Nirmal districts, reached Indira Park today demanding the government for immediate release of their dues pending for the last three years.

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The colleges have been grappling with mounting debts and deferment payments due to the government’s delay in releasing the fee reimbursement dues meant for students hailing from economically weaker sections, they said.

According to the Telangana Private Degree and PG Colleges Management Association (TPDPMA), the State government has been allocating Rs.2,500 crore every year for fee reimbursement scheme out of which 40 per cent i.e., Rs.1,000 crore was allotted to non-professional programmes’ students.

As per the association, a total of Rs.3,000 crore fee reimbursement dues were pending for the last three academic years and tokens were issued for Rs.800 crore. However, the amount was not released and the private colleges have been facing severe financial difficulties in paying building rent and staff salaries. To sustain, several colleges borrowed Rs.1 crore to Rs.4 crore, members of the association said.

Several presentations were made to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and other Ministers, but nothing positive materialised. “Several colleges have already crossed their borrowing limit. Some colleges have already closed as they could not raise more money, while some more on the verge of closure. In the last two months, four college administrators died by suicides due to debts,” said B Suryanarayana Reddy, president TPDPMA.

TPDPMA working president A Parameshwar urged the government not to link the non-professional colleges with the professional ones and release fee reimbursement arrears immediately.