Fee Reimbursement: Colleges Slam Telangana Govt

The Telangana Engineering and Professional Colleges Managements' Association on Saturday slammed the State government for the uncertainty over the fee reimbursement issue.

The all-party meeting organised by the Association condemned the attitude of State government, and blamed it for causing worries for the college managements, parents and students.

Participating in the meeting, BJP floor leader Dr K Laxman said that almost 85% of students studying in Telangana colleges were locals. He said that the pre-1956 clause of the State government would create more problems for the students pursuing professional courses in 2nd, 3rd and 4th years. He accused the government of playing with the lives of students.

However, TRS General Secretary K Prabhakar defended the government stand, and said that it was firm on protecting the interests of Telangana students.

He said that the number of colleges had gone up from 350 to 700 after the introduction of the fee reimbursement scheme. Referring to the report of the Task Force, he said that almost 70% seats in the minority colleges were being sold. He also informed that as many as 499 colleges had no labs, 319 colleges had no land, there was lab apparatus in only 565 colleges, and 125 of them had no library. Many colleges had no full-time Professors or Assistant Professors.

In view of this situation, he said Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had decided to formulate a new policy.

He offered to arrange a meeting of college managements with the Chief Minister on the issue.

TDP Deputy floor leader Reventh Reddy condemned the State Government for levying the pre-1956 condition on students. He said that the government had no mechanism to verify the 1956 nativity claims. He alleged that the Chief Minister was trying to waste an academic year of the students.

CPI (M) leader J Ranga Reddy said that the government could frame new rules, but should continue the old rules until the new guidelines were framed.

Secunderabad MP Bandaru Dattatreyya, Khairatabad MLA Ch Ramchandra Reddy, T Krishna Reddy and R Krishnaiah of the TDP, Ponnam Prabhakar and Jagannath Rao of the Congress, MLC Ramulu Naik and Gattu Ramchandra Rao of the YSRCP, and representatives of other political parties including Lok Satta participated in the meeting.

Association leader K V K Rao said that the private colleges had been providing 1.5 lakh direct jobs and 3.5 lakh indirect jobs. He said that on the one hand the TRS government was rolling out the red carpet for industrialists, but on the other it was hurting the interests of the colleges which had already provided employment to nearly 5 lakh people.

Association Chairman N Gautam Ram, General Secretary M A Khaleel, office bearers Malla Reddy and Sunil Kumar, and others also spoke. (INN)