Hyderabad: Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said past midnight on Monday that private degree and professional colleges managements had agreed to defer their strike, scheduled to begin on Monday, in protest against the non-payment of fee reimbursement dues. After late-night talks with the managements, Bhatti said that since the talks were being held on a Sunday, when government offices are closed and it is difficult to get data, it was agreed to defer the strike for now and continue with talks to resolve the issue. According to those present, Bhatti admitted that the government had no resources to make immediate payment to reimburse fee dues. “All the money is going into salaries and welfare schemes. Nothing is left. On reimbursements I can do nothing. There is not even a paisa to give you,” he reportedly said. He urged the managements to withdraw the strike and give the government time. College owners refused. They said they would not accept assurances and demanded that at least Rs.1,200 crore, for which tokens had been given, be released immediately.

Representatives warned that unless funds were released at once, the indefinite closure of their institutions from Monday would go ahead. “We need money now, no more promises, as we said before. Otherwise we will continue our strike,” one member said. The associations, which include over 1,500 colleges, argue that nearly ` 3,500 crore is pending since December 2023. They say more than 10 lakh students in professional and degree colleges are caught in the standoff. Exams in several engineering, B Pharmacy and B.Ed colleges are also likely to be disrupted. As the strike begins on Monday, the stalemate threatens to disrupt higher education across the state, leaving students and parents in uncertainty once again. Earlier, following directions of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, his adviser Vem Narender Reddy had met with representatives of the Federation of Associations of Telangana Higher Institutions (FATHI) on Saturday. He urged them to withdraw the strike and conveyed the Chief Minister’s assurance that the government would resolve the issue amicably.

FATHI representatives had also held discussions with Deputy Chief Minister and finance minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and IT minister D. Sridhar Babu on Saturday. The government was expected to release `1,200 crore in the first phase, with assurances to clear the balance in a phased, time-bound manner. This apparently did not work out at Sunday’s meeting. FATHI chairman Nimmatoori Ramesh Babu told this newspaper that the strike would not be withdrawn on the basis of assurances alone. He said managements wanted the government to release at least a part of the arrears immediately as proofofcommitment. Ramesh Babu added that the FATHI general body would meet on Sunday to finalise the demands to be presented before the government when Bhatti holds talks with them.

The standoffhas created uncertainty for lakhs of students in higher education, with college managements insisting that unless the government acts swiftly, they cannot continue operations. The state has seen protests by students organisations and those working for the welfare ofBackward Classes students, who have stated that students’ interests were being hit by the government not clearing the fee dues. There have been cases where college managements have refused to release students’ certificates on the basis of the fee arrears. Some of these cases have landed before the Telangana High Court as well as State Human Rights Commission. The court and the SHRC have directed the college managements to release the certificates forthwith. Some of these cases are on appeal.