Colleges heed Revanth’s warning; call off protest

Hyderabad: Hours after Chief Minister Anumula Revanth Reddy warned of stern action against erring private colleges, the Federation of Associations of Higher Institutions (FATHI) on Friday called off its strike.

The federation took the decision after holding talks with the government on the release of pending dues of the fee reimbursement scheme. On the fifth day of the strike on Friday, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikaramarka and Roads and Buildings Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy held deliberations with the federation to sort out the reimbursement of tuition fee (RTF) issue. The federation president Ramesh Babu said that the FATHI cancelled its plans to conduct a mega meeting with teachers and non-teachers at LB Stadium and a Long March with students. All private degree and professional colleges in the state will resume operations.

“The associations have demanded Rs 1,500 of the arrears. We have already released Rs 600 crore till now and we will release another Rs 600 crore soon. We will clear another Rs 300 crore in a few days,” Vikramarka said. He also noted that FATHI has requested setting up a committee to streamline issues concerning the payment of fee reimbursement and make disbursals smooth in the future. A committee will be formed soon, he said.

Earlier, the Chief Minister warned the colleges observing bandh over fee reimbursement issue of “strict action for creating hardships to students pursuing their studies”. The state government would not hesitate to proceed against the college managements (of protesting institutions) who are known to collect hefty donations and sell the management quota seats, the Chief Minister said. 

Addressing the media here, the Chief Minister said that the state government, reeling under financial crisis, has been “using the available funds judiciously”. In this situation, the managements of colleges (seeking immediate payment of fee reimbursement arrears) should not take the extreme step of calling a bandh of the educational institutions during crisis time, he said.

It may be mentioned there that private colleges protesting under the aegis of FATHI have been demanding that the state government to immediately clear at least Rs 5,000 crore out of Rs 10,000 crore fee reimbursement dues that have been pending for the past five years.

The Chief Minister observed that association members were “threatening the government” for not obliging their demand to grant additional permissions for their colleges. He said that the managements of some of the protesting colleges and some political parties had colluded, deliberately creating trouble for the government.

The Chief Minister clarified that the government’s monthly revenues were not more than Rs 18,500 crore, though the requirement was more than Rs 25,000 crore due to increased repayment of debt burden on the state exchequer.

“We will pay fee reimbursement dues in installments. Rs 3,600 crore pending”, Revanth Reddy said. He said that students will lose their academic year if the colleges are closed for a long time. Many colleges were running without following the guidelines, mainly those relating to labs, teaching staff, and attendance records using face recognition technology, he pointed out.

“Shall I stop government employees' salaries to pay fee reimbursement? Education is not a business,” the Chief Minister observed, while appealing to BC leader R Krishnaiah and Madiga Dandora leader Krishna Madiga to understand the state's financial position and support the government. The Chief Minister said he is ready to even hand over the financial management to the two leaders supporting the colleges.