Union Minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar has raised serious concerns about the Telangana government’s delay in releasing funds for the Fee Reimbursement Scheme, warning that it is putting the futures of thousands of poor students at risk.
In a letter sent to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Thursday, Bandi Sanjay criticized both the former BRS government and the current Congress administration for not paying colleges their due reimbursements. He said this ongoing delay has created a financial crisis in private institutions across the state.
The unpaid dues amount to nearly ₹8,000 crore over the last four years. This has left many intermediate, degree, engineering, and nursing colleges struggling to survive. Without these funds, college managements can’t pay staff salaries or cover basic operational costs. As a result, some institutions have fallen into debt, while others have shut down completely.
Many colleges are now refusing to release student certificates until pending fees are paid. This move is blocking students from applying for jobs or continuing their education, adding more pressure to already struggling families.
Bandi Sanjay reminded the Chief Minister that the Congress party had originally launched the Fee Reimbursement Scheme to support underprivileged students in accessing higher education. He recalled a recent meeting at Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad (JNTU-H), where the CM had promised engineering colleges that Minister Sridhar Babu would handle the clearance of dues under a One-Time Settlement (OTS) plan.
During that meeting, the CM had also assured colleges that reimbursement payments would be made on time from the current academic year. He reportedly directed the Finance Department to take immediate steps to resolve the issue.
In the State Legislature, the Chief Minister had further announced that outstanding dues would be split into 12 monthly installments and cleared within a year. However, Bandi Sanjay pointed out that none of these assurances have been fulfilled so far.
He warned that the government’s failure to act is eroding public trust and pushing both students and educational institutions toward a breaking point.
