Nearly 2,000 private colleges across Telangana shut over pending ₹900 crore fee reimbursement dues

Thousands of students were left stranded on November 3 as nearly 2,000 private professional colleges across Telangana — including engineering, pharmacy, MBA, MCA, B.Ed, and nursing institutions — downed shutters indefinitely to protest the state government’s failure to clear fee reimbursement dues.

The colleges, under the banner of the Federation of Associations of Telangana Higher Institutions (FATHI), said they were unable to continue operations due to the non-release of funds. The protest will continue, they declared, until the government settles the pending dues in full.

The government had earlier assured institutions that ₹1,200 crore in arrears would be released before Diwali. However, only ₹300 crore has been disbursed so far. On Monday evening, officials initiated talks through Additional Director General (Intelligence) Vijay Kumar, offering another ₹300 crore. The college managements, however, rejected the offer, insisting that at least 50% of the remaining ₹900 crore — about ₹500 crore — be released immediately.
FATHI announced a series of agitation programmes over the coming week, including meetings with MLAs and MPs on November 4, a public gathering of one lakh teachers on November 8, and a “Chalo Hyderabad” rally to the Secretariat on November 10 or 11.

The sudden shutdown caught many students off guard. “We didn’t know the college had called for a bandh. We came for our internal exams but were told they’re postponed,” said Rohini, a first-year degree student from a private college near RTC Cross Roads.

Haritha, a nursing student from Jangaon, told The New Indian Express (TNIE) that her college had informed them of a shutdown starting November 3 but gave no date for reopening.

With classes suspended indefinitely, the standoff between the state government and private institutions has left thousands of students and teachers in uncertainty.