Private professional colleges to close from November 3 and protest with one lakh staff on November 6

Managements of private professional colleges will lead a protest with 1 lakh staff members on November 6 to highlight their sufferings and the bleak future of colleges in Telangana due to the non-payment of fee reimbursement dues by the government.

From November 3, the colleges, including Engineering, Pharmacy, MBA, MCA, BEd, and Nursing, will close indefinitely as they are unable to run the institutions due to non-payment of fees reimbursement, said chairrman of Federation of Associations of Telangana Higher Institutions (FATHI) N. Ramesh Babu.

The FATHI held a press conference to announce the closure of colleges and the protests and said this was the last option before the colleges. He urged the universities to postpone examinations under their jurisdiction as the colleges would be closed.

FATHI representative Alijapur Srinivas said that the government promised to release ₹1,200 crore by the Deepavali festival. This was announced by Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu but only ₹300 crore was released. “Now when we are seeking the release of the promised dues, the government is threatening the colleges with a vigilance probe,” he said stating that this was a direct threat for seeking pending dues.

The FATHI representatives reminded that the government owes ₹10,000 crore fee reimbursement and demanded that the dues be released first and they would have no objection to the vigilance probe.