The Federation of Private Higher Education Institutions has served an ultimatum on the Telangana government, asking it to immediately release long-pending fee reimbursement dues. The federation claimed that private colleges in the state were facing a financial crisis because of the non-payment of ₹900 crore arrears and warned of a statewide agitation if the dues are not cleared by Sunday.
The federation chairman, Ramesh Babu, said the state owes nearly ₹10,000 crore under the fee reimbursement scheme, thereby supporting lakhs of students enrolled in private colleges. He wanted the government to immediately release at least ₹5,000 crore, while saying that the remaining balance should be cleared by the end of March 2026. Failure to do so, he said, will trigger an indefinite strike starting November 3 across private colleges in Telangana.
As part of the agitation plan, the federation has asked all universities to postpone all examinations to avoid the academic loss due to the strike. A mega-meeting of around 1.5 lakh college teaching and nonteaching staff will be held on November 6 to finalise the stir. This will be followed by a massive rally of students in Hyderabad on November 10 or 11 which the federation claimed will be attended by 10 lakh students from across the state.
Ramesh Babu warned that if the government remains unresponsive even after the Hyderabad protest, college managements, staff and students will intensify their agitation by picketing the residences of ministers, MLAs and MPs, and later staging protests at district collectorates.
Addressing speculations about possible state action against private colleges, Aljapur Srinivas, vice-president of the federation of private colleges, attacked the state's approach as "blackmail" and said it should instead ensure its financial commitment to students and colleges was respected rather than threaten institutions.
"MLAs must take responsibility to ensure that the fee reimbursement dues are cleared. Governments in the past have fallen due to student movements," Srinivas cautioned and called upon the state government to "stop intimidating college managements and resolve the crisis". The federation reiterated that the ongoing delay is pushing institutions to the brink and putting at risk the future of students dependent on fee reimbursement support
Clear pending fee arrears or face statewide stir: Private colleges warn Telangana govt
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