Hyderabad: The Telangana Degree Colleges Managements Association has decided to end their strike and statewide shutdown of degree colleges. This decision was made on Thursday after the Principal Chief Secretary for Education, Burra Venkatesham, gave them a promise.
For the past four days, colleges across Telangana had been staging protests. On Wednesday, around 1,800 colleges were closed. The protests were held to express anger over the government’s failure to clear fee reimbursement dues and scholarships.
The college managements claim that the government owes them approximately Rs 5,900 crore. During a meeting with the college representatives, the Principal Chief Secretary assured that the pending dues would be cleared within three days.
Suryanarayan Reddy, the president of the association, explained that the financial situation of the colleges had become very difficult. He said that because the government had not paid the fee reimbursement for the last three years, colleges were struggling. They could not pay salaries to their staff, rent for buildings, or even electricity bills. For these reasons, they had suspended classes.
R Krishnaiah, the president of the National BC Welfare Association, also confirmed that they would be calling off the strike after receiving the government’s assurance. Meanwhile, on Thursday, various student groups held a rally, demanding the immediate release of the pending dues.
