Telangana HC directs govt to provide details on pending tuition fee reimbursement

The Telangana High Court directed the State government to provide details on the Rs 1,500 crore pending tuition fee reimbursements to engineering colleges. Petitioners argued that delayed payments have severely impacted colleges’ operations. The case has been adjourned for further hearing

By Legal Correspondent

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Tuesday directed the State government to place before the Court complete facts and figures regarding the large amounts allegedly pending towards reimbursement of tuition fees to engineering colleges across the State.

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Justice E.V. Venugopal was hearing a batch of writ petitions filed by several engineering colleges complaining of wilful and deliberate inaction on the part of the State government in releasing nearly Rs 1,500 crore towards tuition fee reimbursement dues. According to the petitioners, under the government’s fee reimbursement scheme, tuition fees of students belonging to SC, ST, and Backward Classes are paid directly by the State to the respective colleges. However, payments admitted to be due have allegedly remained unpaid for more than five years despite the issuance of “tokens” acknowledging the liability.

Senior Counsel L. Ravichander, appearing for Keshav Memorial Institute of Technology, submitted that if such substantial dues were owed by a private individual, courts would have taken strict action against the defaulter. He contended that the State, despite securing budgetary approval through Government Orders issued in 2024 for approximately Rs 1,500 crore, failed to release the sanctioned amounts.

It was also argued that the continued withholding of funds has severely affected the functioning of educational institutions, which are required to pay salaries to teaching and non-teaching staff and meet statutory obligations such as provident fund contributions. Taking note of the submissions, the Court directed the State government to furnish detailed data on the dues payable to engineering colleges. The matter was adjourned for further hearing.