Private college Managements threaten stir from Oct 14

​Hyderabad: Managements of the private degree colleges are likely to go on strike from October 14 demanding clearance of fee dues, which according to them are to the tune of Rs 670 crore.

If the issue was not resolved, it is likely to affect the conduct of supplementary exams of the degree colleges, which are scheduled to begin from October 14 and the semester exams, from November 14.

The supplementary exams for the degree colleges of Kakatiya University would start from October 14, Osmania University from October 15, Mahatma Gandhi University from October 18, Sathavahana University from October 24 and Palamuru University from first week of November.

The semester exams in all the degree colleges would begin from November 14. President of Telangana Private Degree and PG Colleges Managements Association Ramana Reddy said they had met the Finance Minister and Finance Secretary at least 30 times in the last two years, but their pleas fell on deaf ears.

He said the dues have been pending since 2014 -15. Even Rs 600 crore of mess bills were not paid. Ramana Reddy said the government has released Rs 275 crore in June this year and issued tokens to collect the amount from the treasuries.

Reddy said the government owes Rs 5,000 crore to the colleges in the form of fee reimbursement to 14 lakh students pursuing engineering, professional, medical, bachelor and post-graduate degree and intermediate courses.

He said though they have not served any strike notice, they have orally informed their decision to the concerned officials about the proposed strike. However, there has been no response from the government.

Ramana Reddy said they have asked the government to clear the dues to private degree colleges in three installments with a gap of two months between each installment, but the government had not responded even to this proposal so far.