Students hold protest over fee reimbursement at Dharna Chowk | Hyderabad News
Hyderabad: Students demanding the release of pending fee reimbursement and scholarship dues staged a sit-in at Dharna Chowk on Thursday morning, drawing a crowd of 80-100 at the ABVP-organised protest.Students raised slogans demanding that the govt clear the pending amounts of ₹11,000 crore, with final-year students saying the delays were leaving them in a difficult position as they prepared to graduate and move on to jobs or higher studies.A postgraduate student who completed his engineering course in 2024 said, “Only my first-year reimbursement came last month. For the second year, only one semester’s amount has been released and around ₹30,000 is still due. My college has kept my certificate, and I am facing problems while applying for jobs. I am also looking at going into research, but I cannot proceed without the certificate.”The student said the reimbursement delay had affected him even during his graduation, forcing his family to rely on loans to pay fees. He said the problem had continued into his postgraduate course.Another fourth-year student, Gyaneshwar, said, “I had not received my reimbursement for the past three years. This year, I received ₹35,000. Of the total, ₹4 lakh was still pending for the govt to pay. I have already seen my seniors’ CGPA certificates being withheld and I am extremely worried,” he told TOI.The protesters said the govt had indicated that the pending reimbursement would be released by Sept, but students were yet to receive the amounts.“Students who have completed courses such as BTech, MTech and MPharmacy are not getting their certificates from their respective colleges because of pending scholarship and reimbursement amounts. Without those certificates, they face difficulties in pursuing higher education, going abroad or taking up jobs,” said Druhan, an ABVP representative.Another ABVP representative, Shravan B, said the delay was particularly difficult for students from economically weaker families who depended on the reimbursement to continue their education.The sit-in started around 11.30am and continued till 3.30pm. Meanwhile, a separate protest by govt polytechnic students was held against GO 97 and the proposed integration of polytechnic colleges with Young India Skills University under the SHAKTI framework. The protest was backed by the Cockroach Janata Party’s Telangana members.
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