Hyderabad: Serious questions are being raised over the functioning of minority institutions in Telangana, with stakeholders pointing to their unchecked self-administration and a glaring lack of regulatory oversight. The absence of monitoring mechanisms has left entitled students—that is, those from minority communities—at the receiving end of systemic violations.

According to sources in the State Higher Education Department (SHEDE), previous attempts to bring minority institutions under stricter regulatory oversight were met with resistance. Universities, the Higher Education Council, and the department itself reportedly faced political pressure whenever efforts were made to enforce compliance.

A senior official from the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad (JNTUH), explained that affiliations under minority status are granted based merely on certificates submitted by institutions. Beyond this, universities do not verify whether the percentage of minority students enrolled aligns with the norms stipulated for such institutions.

As per existing regulations, professional minority institutions affiliated with JNTUH, Osmania University (OU), and Kakatiya University (KU) are permitted to admit only a limited percentage of non-minority students. The majority of seats must be reserved for minority students. These norms extend to minority schools, junior colleges, degree colleges, and professional institutions. However, in practice, many institutions have been admitting a disproportionate number of non-minority students, particularly under the ‘B’ category in professional colleges.

Violations are reportedly rampant in schools and non-professional colleges, where minority students often find themselves sidelined as non-minority admissions dominate.

Echoing similar concerns, sources in Osmania University revealed that the Telangana Council of Higher Education (TGCHE) had earlier directed minority colleges to submit their minority status certificates for verification. The move was intended to ensure compliance with seat allocation norms. Institutions were warned that failure to adhere to regulations could result in their seats being merged into the common pool of admissions. Despite these measures, oversight has weakened considerably in recent years.

“For the past five years, pending fee reimbursement issues have crippled the education department’s monitoring capacity. Without checks and balances, minority professional institutions have adopted practices like their non-minority counterparts, demanding direct fee payments from students.”

The consequences of this regulatory lapse are most acutely felt by students. Minority students, who ought to benefit from the protective framework of minority institutions, are often at the receiving end due to non-minority admissions. This being so, non-minority students admitted under the ‘B’ category clear their fees. This is resulting in the minority students facing mounting financial pressure, as institutions insist on fee payments due to delays in government reimbursements, with minority students struggling with financial demands—highlighting the systemic failure of oversight.