The SFI’s call for a statewide bandh is the latest in the ongoing fee reimbursement crisis. Earlier, numerous educational institutions had announced the suspension of operations due to pending reimbursements.
Published Oct 25, 2025 | 9:56 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 25, 2025 | 9:56 PM
SFI has called for the bandh on 30 October, protesting against the state’s failure to clear long-pending fee reimbursements and scholarships. (Representational image)
Synopsis: Several college management associations and civil society organisations are likely to support the bandh. The Pharmacy Colleges Management Association has already pledged its support.
Frustration is building up among the student community even as Telangana braces for a statewide education bandh on 30 October.
The Students Federation of India (SFI) has called for the bandh, protesting against the state’s failure to clear long-pending fee reimbursements and scholarships.
For many students, the delay has meant withheld certificates, stalled admissions, and academic plans gone awry. Colleges, too, are bearing the brunt since they are unable to pay their staff or carry out operations.
What began as isolated protests has now snowballed into an alliance of students, college managements, and civil society groups demanding action.
While calling for the bandh, the Telangana State Committee of the SFI released a poster detailing its demands:
“Although SFI is the one that gave the call for the bandh, we are not alone in this protest,” SFI Telangana state secretary, Chetan Durga, said.
“Numerous management associations have heeded our call alongside civil society organisations. Our demonstration will not be concentrated in cities but will go deep into the districts as well,” he stated.
Durga elaborated on the crisis that has formed due to the delay in fee reimbursements. “They are making poor kids pay the fee whether or not they can afford it. They are holding their certificates hostage to extort payments in some places,” he explained.
“The government must take action in this regard to safeguard the students. Any notice, circular, or GO will do. They are talking about issuing tokens for the ₹1,200 crore due. However, they are not able to stick to a timeline. They suggest the date and fail to deliver. On top of this, it is now also affecting kids in government colleges like HCU (Hyderabad Central University). Students who want to pursue further education or need to give their semester examinations are the worst affected,” he continued.
“The state has already issued ₹300 crore in tokens, but not a single penny has come. They make statements, but block sanctions. At this point, it is not just fee reimbursements, but scholarships are also getting affected,’ he said.
The SFI’s call for a statewide bandh is the latest in the ongoing fee reimbursement crisis. Earlier, numerous educational institutions had announced the suspension of operations due to pending reimbursements.
Telangana’s private professional colleges had threatened an indefinite strike, commencing on 13 October, and suspending operations. The warning came after an emergency meeting of the Federation of Associations of Telangana Higher Education Institutions (FATHI) in Hyderabad on 1 October.
Over 100 representatives of private engineering, degree, and professional colleges attended the meeting. They expressed anger at the government’s repeated failure to release promised funds.
FATHI chairman N Ramesh Babu said the sector was being pushed to the brink.
“The government is ignoring higher education. Colleges cannot pay salaries or maintain labs. Despite repeated appeals, there has been no response,” he said.
Following the announcement, the state responded and asked the colleges to wait until Deepavali for the reimbursement, a promise they’d made after another such strike threat was made in September.
Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka announced the decision after talks with college managements, saying the government was sensitive to the interests of students and staff.
“Keeping the welfare of students in mind, we have decided to release ₹600 crore,” he said. The strike was subsequently called off by FATHI, which represents over 2,000 colleges, including engineering, pharmacy, BEd, MBA, MCA, nursing, and degree institutions.
Speaking to South First, Jaipal Reddy, the head of the Pharmacy Colleges Management Association, explained the conditions of educational institutions.
“The bandh is in the interest of students. It is our duty to support their demonstration,” he stated.
“The state has not given us a concrete answer yet. They are only trying to buy time. In fact, it does not appear like Revanth Reddy is in a position to speak to us. The Deputy Chief Minister and IT Minister Sridhar Babu are trying their best, but the Chief Minister is never available,” he said.
Notably, the Chief Minister also holds the portfolio of the Department of Higher Education.
“If they have the guts, I challenge them to halt payments to their employees across the state. They keep saying that they lack the money to pay us. However, in that same breath, they announce grand projects in the state. It is baffling,” Jaipal Reddy said.
“The average fee of a college in the state is between ₹30,000 and ₹60,000. Yet, it is not just Revanth Reddy, but K Chandrashekar Rao also kept delaying reimbursement. Education is not trivial; it is important. This is not how you run the administration. Education and health must be priority spending for any state. If you can’t pay it, at least declare it and formulate a plan to pay us. The kids are in no way responsible for this, but we are suffering in the midst,” he further said.
“Importantly, Telangana has one of the highest NAAC-accredited colleges in India. We’re also on top of the ranking percentiles, jobs, and leading positions worldwide. Even without the state’s support, the students will not give up, and neither will we,” he said.
“We can cooperate with a government’s hardships for a year, maybe two. But as things stand, there are arrears stretching back at least 4 years. Even small-sized colleges are to get about ₹10 crore. After all this time, we were able to get the state to pay out ₹358 crore, that too as if we were begging for alms,” he said.
Speaking of the earlier strike the colleges had called for, he said: “We were told we would be paid or that the process would at least begin by Deepavali. Deepavali has come and gone, but we are yet to hear anything. When a state makes such a statement, those affected are naturally hopeful. When they can’t do good on their promises, the people continue to trust the government and assume the college is the bad guy. We are unable to trust the state’s promises anymore,” he added.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
