Student body writes to Dy CM for refund

Representatives of the Telangana private degree and PG colleges management association have written to Kadiyam Srihari, the Deputy Chief Minister and the education minister of Telangana, requesting the release of pending tuition fee reimbursements for 2016-17 and 2017-18.

According to them, some of the students residing in hostels run by the social welfare department have not been receiving the fee reimbursement. The students of these non-professional colleges, who account for over 70 per cent of the entire student population in the state, are eligible to receive fee reimbursements.

In the letter, S. Surender Raju, the president of the Telangana private degree and PG colleges management association, said, “95 per cent of the students of these colleges are poor. The amount required is only `400 crore, which is less than 20 per cent of the entire fee reimbursement budget. We request you to treat these institutions as a separate category while releasing the budget, and to release the amount quarterly, in the months of March, June, September and December.”

The association has made other requests in its letter. It says, “We request you to grant 10 per cent management seats over and above the sanctioned intake capacity, to provide an opportunity to students who fail to get admission through the DOST process. There will be no burden on the government to pay the fees for this category of students. Also, give colleges permission to fill up leftover seats after completion of the online admission process.”