Revanth’s Tough Talk Gets Colleges In Line
Though the inspections were ordered by the previous BRS government, the reports had remained shelved
Hyderabad:The state government on Monday highlighted the reports of the vigilance and enforcement department and task force committee, which suggested irregularities in engineering colleges, including shortage of qualified faculty, inadequate infrastructure, poor laboratories and violations of AICTE norms on land, buildings and staff salaries.
Though the inspections were ordered by the previous BRS government, the reports had remained shelved.
Following a direction from Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, officials questioned why the government should release full fee reimbursement to institutions that had failed to comply with prescribed standards. They also made it clear that fresh inspections would be conducted to assess current conditions, and funds would be released accordingly.
Before the discussions with managements, the Chief Minister held a review meeting with deputy chief minister and finance minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and IT minister D. Sridhar Babu.
Revanth Reddy instructed them to inform the colleges that they must strictly adhere to AICTE and state government regulations if they wished to continue availing reimbursement in future.
This strategy pushed the college managements into a defensive position. Though they had initially insisted that the state government must clear the entire arrears of `8,000 crore, which was accumulated over the past five years, be cleared in full, they finally agreed to a phased settlement.
The government assured immediate release of `600 crore and another `600 crore in monthly instalments without committing to a specific timeline. Despite the partial settlement, college managements decided to call off the strike and confirmed that institutions would function normally from Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the government is working on restructuring the fee reimbursement scheme.
Proposals are under consideration to transfer funds directly into joint bank accounts of students and parents rather than routing payments through college managements. Officials believe this move will enhance accountability and ensure that the scheme benefits students directly, while also compelling colleges to maintain required standards.
