Private engineering colleges urge A.P. government to release fee reimbursement arrears of ₹4,500 crore

With the reimbursement amount not paid last year, many colleges are finding it difficult to stay afloat, says APPECMA president Vasireddy Vidyasagar

Members of the Andhra Pradesh Private Engineering Colleges Managements’ Association (APPECMA) have urged the TDP-led coalition government in the State to release the pending arrears of the fee reimbursement scheme, accumulated to the tune of more than ₹4,500 crore, including two instalments for the 2024-25 academic year.

The executive committee of the association, in a meeting in VIjayawada on October 22, resolved to press the government for the immediate release of the pending arrears, especially in view of the serious financial crisis faced by some of them on account of the failure of the previous YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government in making the payments for the entire last year.

Under the fee reimbursement scheme, the State government reimburses private colleges the fees of students from the marginalised communities admitted to professional courses.

In recent years, however, the delay in payment has put a severe financial burden on private colleges. The members said the inordinate delay in payment of the money had an adverse impact on the operations of their institutions.

APPECMA president Vasireddy Vidyasagar said as the reimbursement amount was not paid for the last year, many engineering colleges were finding it difficult to keep themselves afloat. They were finding it difficult to even pay the salaries to the staff and meet other maintenance costs, he said.

He said the pending arrears of more than ₹4,500 crore included the three instalments of the academic year 2023-24, besides ₹450 crore towards payment of students pursuing post-graduate courses from 2018 and the two pending instalments pertaining to the current academic year 2024-25.

Tuition fees

They said tuition fee was the primary source of revenue for engineering institutions in the private and unaided sector and without these funds, they were finding it difficult to maintain standards and urged the government to respond positively to their plight and release the pending money.

Association’s general secretary P. Madhusudan Rao, treasurer Grandhi Satyanarayana, members M. Shanti Ramudu, Ch. Gangireddy, G. Rajaling, Koya Subbarao and others participated in the meeting.

Published - October 22, 2024 11:55 pm IST