Hyderabad, Sep 15 (IANS) Private professional colleges in Telangana on Monday called off their indefinite strike after the state government agreed to release Rs 600 crore immediately towards free reimbursement arrears.

The breakthrough came on Monday night during the talks between the state government and leaders of Federation of Associations of Telangana Higher Education (FATHI).

Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, who led the group of ministers in the talks with FATHI representatives, announced that keeping in mind the problems faced by the managements of colleges and future of the students studying in these colleges, the government has responded positively.

“Though it’s a financial burden, the government decided to immediately release Rs.600 crore towards fee reimbursement arrears for which tokens were issued,” he said.

Vikramarka, who holds the Finance portfolio, gave the assurance that pending dues would be cleared in a phased manner.

Blaming the previous BRS government for huge pending dues, the Deputy CM announced that a committee will be constituted for rationalisation of fee reimbursement scheme.

Ministers Sridhar Babu and Uttam Kumar Reddy also participated in the talks. Following the breakthrough, the managements announced that colleges will re-open from Tuesday.

The colleges including engineering, pharma, nursing, MBA, MCA and B.Ed colleges had launched indefinite strike on Monday.

On September 12, FATHI had submitted a notice 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.

The first round of talks between representatives of the college managements and the government on Sunday had failed to resolve the issue. However, they agreed to hold another round of talks.

The Deputy Chief Minister thanked the managements for withdrawing the strike and for agreeing to resume classes from Tuesday.

–IANS

ms/pgh