Fee Reimbursement Dues: TG private colleges to shut down from today

Hyderabad: Once again, the gates of private degree and PG colleges will remain locked from Tuesday. The Telangana Private Degree and PG Colleges Management Association (TPDMA) announced an indefinite bandh from Tuesday as one month has passed yet the State government has not cleared the fee reimbursement arrears.

Members of TPDMA pointed out that even last month the colleges called for a strike, but after four days of bandh, the strike was called off, as the State government assured that they would clear the dues but yet nothing was cleared. Private colleges were collapsing under the extreme financial burden, which includes pending rental payments, utility services bills, and non-payments to the staff, and could not function due to the non-release of fee reimbursement arrears by the government since 2021.

“Due to the non-payment of fee reimbursement by the government for the last three years, the financial situation of the college has become chaotic. They are unable to pay the salaries of the employees, the rent of the buildings, and even the electricity bills. Last month, the government gave assurance that the dues would be paid, but yet it was not clear. Fee reimbursement dues to the tune of around 20 per cent for 2021-22, 70 per cent for 2022-23, and 100 per cent for the academic year 2023-24 were pending from the government, they said, adding that tokens for Rs 1,200 crore were issued to colleges in the last 10 months but the amount was not released,” said B Suryanarayana Reddy, State president, TPDMA.

“So, we have decided to go for an indefinite bandh till the dues are cleared. Even we planned to boycott the degree exam that is supposed to take place on Tuesday,” he added.