Hyderabad, Sep 12 : Private professional colleges in Telangana will be shut down indefinitely from September 15, if the state government fails to release fee reimbursement arrears, the managements of the colleges announced on Friday.

All institutions including engineering, pharma, nursing, MBA, MCA and B.Ed colleges will be closed indefinitely from September 15 if the government does not release the arrears.

The Federation of Associations of Telangana Higher Education (FATHI) on Friday submitted a notice in this regard to Telangana Council of Higher Education Chairman Prof V. Balakista Reddy.

According to the Federation, fee reimbursement arrears to the tune of Rs.10,000 crore are pending. It said if the government releases Rs 1,200 crore pertaining to already generated tokens, they will reconsider their decision to indefinitely close the colleges.

FATHI Chairman N. Ramesh said due to non-release of the huge fee reimbursement arrears, the managements were unable to run the institutions. The salaries of faculty and staff had remained unpaid for several months.

The Federation called for observing black day on September 15, which is celebrated as Engineers' Day to mark the birth anniversary of Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya. It said if there is no assurance from the government to release Rs 1,200 crore by September 30, they would indefinitely close the colleges.

Degree and Post Graduate colleges will also observe a bandh on September 16 to demand release of fee reimbursement arrears.

The Federation leaders found fault with the government for not taking steps to resolve the issue of pending arrears. They instead of resolving this issue, the government has convened a meeting with university vice-chancellors to discuss implementation of a facial recognition-based attendance system linked to the fee reimbursement scheme.

Students are also suffering due to the delay in release of fee reimbursement arrears. They complained that colleges are refusing to give them certificates unless the government clears the arrears.

At few places, students staged protests demanding the colleges to return their certificates.

In a related case, the Telugu High Court directed Malla Reddy Engineering College (Autonomous), Maisammaguda, to return the original educational certificates of a student without insisting on payment of tuition fees.

/IANS