PIL challenges move to do away with aided courses in Telangana colleges

HYDERABAD: Observing that there is scope for collection of huge fee from students by the managements of colleges if the government converts aided courses into unaided courses, and stops extending financial assistance to such institutions, a division bench of the High Court has issued notices to the principal secretary to higher education and commissioner of collegiate education to respond within three weeks on a PIL which challenges the Telangana government’s decision to convert aided courses into unaided courses in various colleges across the state.

The bench of acting chief justice Ramesh Ranganathan and justice J Uma Devi was dealing with PIL filed by J Shankar, an unemployed youth from Karimnagar district, seeking setting aside of the impugned proceedings issued by the government last month for converting grant-in-aid courses in government-aided private colleges in the state into unaided courses.

Senior counsel S Satyam Reddy, appearing for the petitioner, said poor students were forced to pay exorbitant tuition and other fees because of the decision of the government. Students coming from downtrodden sections to pursue higher studies were put to irreparable loss due to conversion of aided courses into unaided courses.

Though the government allotted land on lease at a minimal price to eminent educationists for establishing educational institutions with the motto of imparting education to the poor, some private educational institutions were taking over the said institutions and opposing grant-in-aid given to such colleges, resulting in huge loss to the economically poor students who could not afford to pay thousands of rupees towards fee, he said and urged the court to set aside the impugned proceedings.

Special counsel for Telangana A Sanjeev Kumar submitted that the government would fix the fee and even monitor the admission of students to such colleges.