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Hyderabad, Oct 22 (IANS) Private professional colleges in Telangana have again decided to go on indefinite strike from November 3 to demand that the state government release free reimbursement arrears. Federation of Associations of Telangana Higher Education (FATHI) on Wednesday sent strike notices to Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and Chief Secretary Ramakrishna Rao. They demanded that the government release the arrears of at least Rs 900 crore before November 1, failing which they will be forced to shut the colleges from November 3. The Federation had earlier set an October 12 deadline for the government to release the arrears and had threatened to go on strike from October 13. The colleges, including engineering, pharma, nursing, MBA, MCA, and B.Ed colleges, had launched an indefinite strike on September 15, but following the assurance from the government, they called off the strike the same day. FATHI said Deputy Chief Minister Vikramarka, who led the group of ministers in the talks with them, had given an assurance that Rs 600 crore would be released on September 21-22 towards free reimbursement arrears, but only Rs 200 crore was released. They said the Deputy Chief Minister had also given the assurance that the Rs 1,200 crore arrears will be released by Diwali. FATHI had also made it clear that further talks on arrears would be held only with the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO). They also stated that, if necessary, they would undertake the ‘Chalo Hyderabad’ protest along with the students. The Federation had said last month that fee reimbursement arrears to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore are pending. It had sought the immediate release of Rs 1,200 crore pertaining to already generated tokens. Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar alleged that the government is playing with the future of students by not releasing the fee reimbursement arrears. He accused the government of resorting to blackmail to silence the managements of colleges. Stating that the BJP will stand by the colleges, he asked them not to postpone their strike.
