Delay in releasing fee reimbursement funds may lead to closure of 580 professional colleges in Visakhapatnam

Updated on: Tuesday, January 08, 2013

Come January 21, around 580 professional colleges in Visakhapatnam district will have no option but to down shutters unless the state government reimburses Rs 160 crore of the promised tuition fee for the academic year 2012-13 by January 2013, the state welfare association of the managements of various professional colleges - the Consortium of Engineering and Professional Colleges Managements Association -- has threatened.

According to officials of these colleges, the government is supposed to reimburse around Rs 150 crore by way of tuition fee of more than 1.10 lakh students (both fresh and renewal applicants) of around 580 colleges (from intermediate to degree, PG, engineering, MCA, MBA and pharmacy courses) in Visakhapatnam district alone for the year 2012-13.

This, even as the state government is yet to still to clear last year's dues (2011-12) of Rs 10 crore. Almost nine months of the current year have passed but as of date none of the colleges have received a single penny under the fee reimbursement scheme, which was the brainchild scheme of late CM YS Rajasekhara Reddy, said Dadi Ratnakar, secretary, JNTU-Kakinada Association of the Managements of Engineering Colleges, which represents colleges in nine districts including Visakhapatnam.

According to Ratnakar, the managements of about 28 engineering and seven pharmacy colleges in the district are not able to meet recurring expenditures including salaries to staff and other expenses on college maintenance due to the delay in releasing fee reimbursement funds as around 85% of the seats in all professional colleges have been filled with beneficiaries of the fee reimbursement scheme.

"About 116 engineering colleges across the state, including three in Visakhapatnam district alone, have declared closure due to the government's apathy in releasing funds in time under the scheme. If the situation continues, more than 50% of the colleges will be forced to down shutters. The government's attitude is indirectly affecting the quality of education," Ratnakar said.

In addition to this, the government is supposed to have started the verification process on the applications that have been forwarded by principals at the beginning of the academic year but there has been no progress on the verification process as on date, informed the principal of a private engineering college.

Delay in releasing fee reimbursement funds may lead to closure of 580 professional colleges in Visakhapatnam

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