Telangana private professional colleges call off bandh; to reschedule exams

Telangana private professional colleges called off their five-day bandh after a meeting with Deputy CM. FATHI and State officials reached an agreement, and a committee will review dues. Exams disrupted during the closure will be rescheduled promptly

Hyderabad: After closing down their institutions for five days besides boycotting examinations over tuition fee reimbursement dues issue, the private professional colleges on Friday called off their bandh and all protests scheduled this month.

The decision comes after Federation of Associations of Telangana Higher Education Institutions (FATHI) representatives’ meeting with Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu and Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy ended on a positive note. The colleges wanted the government to release Rs 1,500 crore.

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The government has already released Rs 600 crore, another Rs 600 crore would be released in about two to three days, and remaining Rs 300 crore would be cleared shortly, the Deputy Chief Minister said.

As sought by the FATHI, a committee has been formed to look into the fee reimbursement issue and the government would seek the panel report at the earliest, he said.

FATHI Chairman N Ramesh Babu said the private professional colleges had called for institutions’ closure from November 3, and some exams could not be conducted due to the bandh. “We will coordinate with the university officials to reschedule exams and complete them at the earliest,” he said.

The FAITH clarified that it had not made any comments against A Sridevasena, in-charge Secretary of Education Department, or officials of the CMO and Deputy Chief Minister’s Office.

“Some media outlets distorted our statements that were made during a recent press conference over the issue. We have already issued a statement condemning the misleading reports,” Ramesh Babu said.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy came down heavily on the private professional colleges over closing down their institutions over fee dues. He maintained that the State government owed only Rs 3,600 crore as against Rs 10,000 crore being claimed by the managements.

Stressing that managements’ blackmailing tactics would not be tolerated, the Chief Minister asked as to who would be responsible for students’ loss due to bandhs. If the managements insist on rules, the State government would also implement all other rules in spirit, he said.

“Aurora Ramesh sought permission for a few colleges and Jayaprakash college management from Mahabubnagar had sought off-campus permission in Hyderabad. Can these be permitted?” he questioned, pointing to the hefty donations being collected by the managements.

He assured that intermediate and degree college tuition fee dues would be cleared in the first phase followed by technical and other institutions.