Colleges had high hopes when the Congress came to power by defeating the BRS last year.

We thought the Revanth Reddy government will prioritise the education sector, but it’s been 10 months since it came to power and it appears that Congress is going the BRS way, heads of college associations said on Tuesday.

Government is yet to pay fee reimbursement arrears for consecutive academic years since 2021. These amount to ₹2,500 crore now, it was revealed at the meeting.

As a result, colleges are unable to pay bank loans and are declared Non-Performing Assets, unable to pay sufficient salaries, affiliation fees, and non-cooperation from teachers is directly affecting classroom performance and output.

State association managements such as of colleges of pharmacy, engineering, junior, degree, B.Ed, nursing, MBA and MCA, formed a federation on Tuesday, to make a united appeal to the government.

According to president, Professional and Degree Colleges Federation of Telangana, T. Jayapal Reddy, the fee reimbursement dues affect about 4.5 lakh private teachers and families of over 12 lakh students in the State.

“At the individual level, teachers are demotivated. They complain of humiliation by bankers, and are expressing non-cooperation, and suicidal tendencies. Education must be prioritised like agriculture is,” he said.

President of Nursing and Paramedical Colleges’ Association S. Parameshwar Reddy said that the new government must correct the financial ‘mismanagement’ by clearing dues at quarterly intervals.

Other heads pointed to the absence of a Minister for Education to understand issues and resolve them. It is presently headed by the Chief Minister.

The Federation appealed to the government for reforming the payment system and clearing the reimbursement dues by Dasara, the biggest festival for State employees, so that families of the managements, teachers and students can celebrate the festive mood.

College associations’ presidents were Nagaiah Chowdary (Engineering), Suryanarayana Reddy (Degree), K. Ramadas (B.Ed), Narender Reddy (Junior), Pulla Ramesh Babu (Pharmacy), and Sudhir Kumar (MBA and MCA).