TSTCEA demands release of Rs 8,500 crore fee reimbursement

Hyderabad: The Telangana State Technical College Employees Association expressed concern over the growing crisis faced by faculty members in engineering, pharmacy, MBA, and MCA colleges across the state. On Sunday, TSTCEA president A Santosh Kumar stressed the urgent need for the state government to release long-pending fee reimbursement funds and enforce salary norms for college faculty.

Santosh Kumar highlighted that teachers are enduring severe mental and financial distress due to the non-payment of salaries. Despite statutory provisions under Chapter-14, Section-84 of the Telangana Education Act 1982 mandating monthly salary disbursement, many college managements have failed to comply. The current fee reimbursement arrears stand at a staggering Rs 8,500 crore, leaving institutions unable to pay staff regularly.

The association demanded that the state government constitute a special board to ensure the timely release of fee reimbursement and enforce monthly salary payments through mechanisms aligned with the Right to Education Act. Members also condemned the practice of depositing salaries under the guise of “7th salary” and subsequently withdrawing them, calling for an immediate end to such exploitative tactics.

TSTCEA raised concerns over colleges paying partial salaries or demanding kickbacks from faculty in exchange for salary disbursement.

Teachers who question these practices reportedly face dismissal, prompting the association to demand job security for all employees under Chapter 14, Section 79 of the Telangana Education Act.

For quality education, the association stressed the need to implement a faculty cadre ratio of 1:2:6. It also called for mandatory enforcement of group accident insurance policies for teachers, citing the lack of accountability in case of workplace incidents.

Another pressing issue was the violation of holiday norms. Colleges are reportedly operating even on public holidays, including second and fourth Saturdays, contrary to university regulations. TSTCEA urged authorities to ensure proper observance of holidays to safeguard teachers’ mental well-being, he added.

The meeting of TSTCEA was attended by faculty members from private colleges across the state, including D Srinivas, B Anantha Ram, K Raju, Sandeep, Sanjay, Upender, Anoop, Srinu, and Dev Singh. The association members reaffirmed their commitment to advocating for faculty rights and institutional accountability.