Private degree, PG colleges in erstwhile Adilabad demand payment of tuition fee arrears

Managements of the colleges said they were unable to maintain the colleges owing to delay in reimbursement of the tuition fee by the government to BC, SC and ST students

Adilabad: Private degree and post-graduation colleges in erstwhile Adilabad district are demanding the government to release arrears of tuition fees. They will remain closed indefinitely seeking the payment of the fee.

Managements of the colleges said they were unable to maintain the colleges owing to delay in reimbursement of the tuition fee by the government to students from Backward, Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST).

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“The delay in release of the tuition fee is leaving an adverse impact on the management of the colleges. We are struggling to pay rents of buildings and salaries of teaching and non-teaching staff, electricity bills and to meet other expenditures. The colleges will be closed as long as the government clears the arrears,” The Telangana Private Degree and PG Colleges Management Association (TPDPMA), erstwhile Adilabad district chapter president SV Ramana said.

There were 68 in erstwhile Adilabad district, providing education to 30,000 students. Most of them were being run on rented premises, while 10 colleges were operated in their own buildings. The management of the colleges submitted representations to public representations and officials since the last 10 months, but in vain. Token numbers were given to the colleges in the past. However, the arrears were not sanctioned till date, causing inconvenience to the management of the colleges.

“Unlike private engineering colleges, which can collect fees from students, the degree and PG colleges solely depend on the reimbursement scheme. The Congress-led government, which introduced the initiative during the then Chief Minister YS Rajashekhara Reddy is not showing interest in releasing the tuition fee,” Ramana pointed out.

The TPDPMA chalked an action plan to realise its demand. It would represent Collectors and stage a wide-range of protests from Tuesday onwards. However, the students expressed concern over the learning process. They said that they would lose the process due to the closure of the colleges. They requested the government to take steps to resolve the issue.