Engineering students on brink of dropout, fee sop in freeze

HYDERABAD: At a time when the Telangana government is splurging crores of rupees in decorating streets to welcome Ivanka Trump for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, there are thousands of engineering students set to graduate next year, who fear dropping out owing to the government's delay in releasing the fee reimbursement dues.

The students admitted in 2014 were the first batch of Telangana after a new state was carved out of Andhra Pradesh. With four year course coming to an end in 2018, students fear that further delay by the government will lead to severe impact on their education. "Our final exams will be held in April. With no signs of the government clearing our dues, the college management is now asking us to pay the fees from our pocket failing which we will not be allowed to write our exams," said Mahboob, a student of a private engineering college.

The government is supposed to pay an estimate amount of 1.40 lakh per student for the four year course. Mahboob, who is a daily wager's son, finds dropping out a better option than paying the amount. He is one among thousands of students who took up engineering only because the government was offering fee reimbursement and mess charges.

"If the government fails to release the amount by next year, my certificates will not be released by the college management. Subsequently, even if I secure placement, I will not be able to join job as I won't have the graduation certificate," said Mahboob.

Another student named Syed Rizwan Hussain, who is a farmer's son, shares a similar story. "Even though the government did not release a single rupee for the last four years, the college management let us continue our course. But now, as we are about to complete our course, the management has started pressing us to pay the amount. I cannot ask my father to shell out 1.40 lakh to secure certificates," said Rizwan.

While the Telangana government made tall promises about releasing the dues in the past, it has infused little confidence among the college managements and students as they believe that they are fighting a lost battle.

"We submitted multiple representations to the government in the past. However, till date, none of the promises made by the government are fulfilled. We feel bad that the students are at the receiving end , as despite their allotment letter stating that we are not supposed to collect fees from them, we have to do so to give salaries among other expenses. But even we don't have any clarity as to when the government will release the dues," said Goutham Rao, president of Telangana Private Engineering Colleges Association.

According to sources, the government is yet to release over 100 crore for the 2014-15 batch students and 1,300 crore for 2016-17.