Govt owes private colleges Rs 1,500 cr as fee reimbursement

Hyderabad: Private colleges in Andhra Pradesh alleged that they are in trouble, as the government has yet to pay them the outstanding fee reimbursement dues of arounds Rs 1,5000 crores. Majority of the private colleges including degree, P.G., diploma and engineering colleges have borrowed money to run the colleges and are deep in debt, haven’t paid the salaries of their staff for months and are on the verge of closure.

A top official from a private college in Andhra Pradesh said, “If the Jagan Sarkar does not respond immediately, suicide is the only option for us.” The government has pending dues of Rs 60 lakh to our college as fee reimbursement for the last academic year. Another year has started, but the outstanding has not been released, he adds.

The official said, “We borrowed money to run the college and pay an interest of Rs 1 lakh. From where do we get this kind of money?”

The government every year reimburses the tuition fee of all students who study either in government or in private colleges. Private engineering colleges have a different fee structure. For SC and ST students the full tuition fee is reimbursed, while students from the OBC, BC and Minority are reimbursed only Rs 35,000.

Before the YSRC government came into power, fee reimbursement would be released in two to three quarters. By the end of the academic year, all the institutions would get the total reimbursement. Presently, the dues for the academic year 2018-19 have not been released.

Another head who runs a group of colleges including engineering and pharmacy colleges said, “The government owes us Rs 9 crore as fee reimbursement. We don’t know whether the reimbursement will be released or not. If this state of affairs continues, many colleges will be closed next year.”

The education of thousands of students studying in these colleges is at risk if the government does not take immediate steps to pay the fee reimbursement money, he adds.