Fee arrears reimbursement delay hits students hard as private degree colleges in Telangana boycott exams

Telangana Private Degree and PG Colleges Management Association Dr B Suryanarayana Reddy said despite the colleges repeated pleas for releasing the fee reimbursement, the government has not released the same

Hyderabad: An inordinate delay by the State government in releasing the fee reimbursement arrears is hitting the students hard as the private degree and PG colleges boycotted the semester and practical examinations.

This boycott forced the Mahatma Gandhi University and Telangana University on Wednesday to postpone the examinations. The MGU Nalgonda had initially scheduled the undergraduate semester examinations on April 11, 15 and 16. However, the university revised the schedule to be held from April 13 to 15. But, these examinations could not be held as colleges boycotted the exams.

The MGU administration on Wednesday put out a notification, informing its decision to postpone all undergraduate examinations scheduled to be held from April 17 to May 15. The varsity cited unavoidable circumstances as the reason for postponing the exams and said revised time tables would be released in due course of time.

Similarly, the Telangana University, which was to commence practical exams from Wednesday, postponed as the colleges did not cooperate.

Speaking to ‘Telangana Today’, Telangana State Private Degree and PG Colleges Management Association president Dr B Suryanarayana Reddy said despite the colleges repeated pleas for releasing the fee reimbursement, the government has not released the same.

As arrears have not been released for the two academic years, colleges were struggling to cover daily expenses and facing severe financial hardship due to the outstanding dues, he said, adding that 90 per cent of the colleges were not able to pay faculty salaries or rent for their premises for the past several months.

“In rural areas, the private colleges are paying the examination fee of the students as they cannot afford it. Since the government is delaying fee arrears, we will not be paying students’ examination fee for the upcoming semester examinations. The boycott of examinations will continue until the State government releases the fee dues. We are told that a meeting will be held with colleges on Wednesday but we have not received any call,” Reddy added.