The Federation of Professional Colleges of Telangana State has said the colleges were suffering as the previous BRS government did not release the fee reimbursement dues to the tune of ₹6,500 crore pending since 2020.
Federation members Ravi Kumar (engineering colleges), T. Jaipal Reddy (pharmacy colleges), Sudhir Kumar (MBA colleges) and S. Parameshwar Reddy (nursing colleges) have urged Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy to release the funds at least for the tokens issued to the colleges since 2021 but not paid.
As of now, tokens of ₹1,500 crore were pending with the Finance Department, they said and added that some of those were issued by the Congress government that took over in December last month. “We are thankful about the tokens being issued immediately. The colleges can survive only if the arrears are paid expeditiously,” the Federation members said in a memorandum addressed to the Chief Minister.
They said students from the 2020-21 batch have graduated without paying the fee and the previous BRS government had not released the fee reimbursement amount. Despite several attempts, the college managements could not meet the then Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao in the last nine years, they rued.
They also said that teachers were quitting due to non-payment of salaries by the colleges and students had to face issues. Managements tried their best to raise loans over the last nine years to sustain the colleges but even those options were now closed, they lamented. More than 90% of the colleges have dues of property taxes, Provident Fund, ESI and income tax apart from university affiliation fees and inspection fees to the universities and the All India Council for Technical Education.
The Federation recalled how the fee reimbursement system functioned smoothly under the previous Congress government till 2014 and requested the Chief Minister to continue the practice of clearing the dues at least on a quarterly basis.
Published - May 17, 2024 12:24 am IST
