Nearly 2,000 colleges in Telangana go on strike over pending dues of Rs 10,000 crore

Thousands of students face disruption as 2,000 Telangana colleges boycott examinations and shut down over the government's failure to release Rs 10,000 crore pending fee reimbursements.

The indefinite strike by all the private professional colleges in Telangana has forced the closure of about 2,000 institutions covering engineering, pharmacy, MBA, and degree colleges.

The move, initiated by the Federation of Associations of Telangana Higher Institutions, has left thousands of students with no classes while large-scale uncertainty is also hovering over ongoing examinations.

The protest is against the delay by the government in releasing close to Rs 10,000 crore pending dues under the Reimbursement of Tuition Fee and Maintenance Fee schemes to students belonging to economically weaker sections.

The immediate cause for the strike was the failure of the state to meet the November 1 deadline to release Rs 900 crore. College managements had then alleged that the government had earlier promised to give Rs 1,200 crore before Diwali, but released only Rs 300 crore.

BOYCOTT OF SEMESTER EXAMS WIDENS

Nearly 2,000 colleges boycotted semester-II examinations on Tuesday, a day after they closed their gates.

As per the information available at Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad, 52 affiliated pharmacy colleges participated in the boycott, while only nine government colleges conducted the tests as per schedule.

However, the turnout remained very low as only 12 percent of the students appeared.

Unfazed by the boycott, JNTUH officials announced that the examinations would be conducted as per schedule, but FATHI said it would persist in the strike and boycott of the examination, until the government released at least 50 percent of the pending dues and came out with a clear roadmap for settling the rest.

GOVERNMENT FORMS 15-MEMBER PANEL

It includes senior officials, education authorities and academics, including Professor Kancha Ilaiah and Professor Kodandaram, in addition to three representatives from FATHI. The committee shall develop a model of 'Trust Bank' that manages the funds transparently and in a sustainable manner and shall submit the report within three months. PROTESTS TO CONTINUE Fathi said the strike would be called off only when the government immediately releases at least Rs 5,000 crore. Announcing mass protests, including a rally at LB Stadium on November 8 and a 'Long March' to the State Secretariat on November 11, the federation claimed lakhs of students and college staff would participate in them. The student unions by and large supported the protest, saying with the delay in reimbursements, the staff salaries remained unpaid and even certificates of the students were withheld