Time to bring transparency & accountability to TSFRC functioning?

Hyderabad: Is fee fixation of engineering, pharmacy and management colleges a private affair between the Telangana State Fee Regulation Committee (TSFRC) and the college management? According to sources in the State Education department, the TSFRC called parents and lecturers only once or twice since its inception after the formation of Telangana.

Speaking to The Hans India, a department official, on condition of anonymity, said, "Not hearing parents and faculty, who are also stakeholders, turned into a major headache for us for the past two years. There were several complaints, from both parents and faculty, regarding arbitrary fee collections and non-payment and partial-payment of salaries to the faculty by the college managements."

Besides, parents and faculty feel that the main problems emanate from the way the TSFRC conducts hearings as a routine ritual, without transparency, accountability and fairness. "There should be videography of all hearings of TSFRC to bring transparency and make its functioning accountable. It solves many problems and clears suspicion over its functioning," he pointed out.

What's making the faculty and parents doubt the TSFRC's functioning?. Throwing light on this, N Gopal Reddy (name changed), working in one of the top 10 engineering colleges in Hyderabad, said, "the faculty had brought to the notice of the TSFRC issues regarding the real expenditure incurred on colleges during the past two years on account of Covid. Savings on labs, computer centres and transportation, removal of faculty, non-payment and partial and nominal payment of salaries, and several others."

"However, there is no response from the TSFRC on this. None knows whether it had taken cognisance of these factors and none knows what was there in the reports submitted by the college managements. How and on what basis the committee is going to fix the fee for the ensuing block period," said C Laxminarayana Reddy (name changed), from an autonomous engineering college in Hyderabad.

He alleged some autonomous colleges could not obtain an extension from the University Grants Commission (UGC) after their earlier autonomy tenures were granted by the commission. A college should apply to the UGC at least six months ahead of the expiry of its tenure of autonomy. But, for that, the colleges have to obtain a no objection certificate from the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad (JNTU-H). The JNTU-H had reportedly not granted NOC.

Against this backdrop, on what basis the TSFRC will fix the fee for such colleges remains a million-dollar question.