Hyderabad: Several engineering colleges are allegedly submitting forged reports and misrepresenting infrastructure and academic details to justify fee hikes, prompting calls for urgent regulatory scrutiny. With Chief Minister Revanth Reddy ruling out any fee hike, students are demanding that the government initiate a clean-up of the system that enables such malpractices.The issue came into focus on Friday at JNTU, where student leaders flagged large-scale irregularities by both affiliated and autonomous institutions. They alleged that fact-finding committee (FFC) reports, meant to assess infrastructure, faculty strength, and academic quality, are routinely manipulated and rarely verified through inspections. “These falsified reports are used to push for unjustified fee hikes, while colleges that don’t meet basic standards operate unchecked,” said Jawwaji Dileep Kumar, a student representative. “The Chief Minister’s firm stand against a fee hike is welcome, but now we need implementation.” Students called for surprise inspections by universities like JNTUH, and asked the Telangana Council of Higher Education (TGCHE) and the Fee Regulatory Committee (TAFRC) to publicly release all FFC reports from the past three years. They wanted any college found violating norms to be barred from Eapcet counselling and to have its affiliation cancelled. One of the major concerns raised in the open letter to the Chief Minister was the alleged fabrication of faculty data. Several colleges are said to forcibly credit partial salaries to faculty just ahead of compliance inspections and withdraw them later. Others continue to underpay or not pay faculty at all, despite submitting falsified financial statements during audits. “These institutions are flouting AICTE norms on faculty-student ratios and workdays. Many don’t even offer mandatory second and fourth Saturdays off,” said Rahul Nayak, student leader. “It’s creating a toxic, high-stress work environment.” The students also pointed out that some engineering colleges, although registered as not-for-profit under trusts or societies, are being run like business ventures. Public funds collected from students are allegedly being diverted, with little to no reinvestment in labs, libraries, or academic development. They called for detailed financial audits to examine fee collection and expenditure patterns, and to verify whether faculty on rolls are fairly compensated as per their income tax returns. “Engineering education should not become a luxury. If colleges cheat to raise fees, they must face action,” said Dileep Kumar. “This isn’t just about affordability, it’s about the credibility of our education system.”
Source link
