IIIT students in lurch as reimbursement held back

Hyderabad: Students who enrolled for the six-year integrated engineering courses in IIIT Idupulapaya and IIIT Nuzvid located in Andhra Pradesh face an uphill task in getting their certificates. They had joined before the state bifurcation and their fee reimbursement has not been cleared over the last two years. IIIT officials are directing them to pay the dues or forget about certificates till the government clears the amounts.

Mr Rakesh Varma from Warangal joined Idupulapaya in 2011 after completing his Class X. Six years later his association with the college would have ended after successfully completing his engineering degree in May-June 2017.

To his shock, college authorities served him a bill of over '1 lakh, which, they said, was pending fee amount for the last two years and besides a small amount for collecting certificates.

“It is a big amount and my family cannot afford to pay it. I tried for private jobs in Hyderabad and Warangal, but they were insisting on certificates. I am sitting idle at home and my whole year has been wasted. This is not my problem alone. Six hundred students from the Telangana state graduate from Idupulapaya and Nuzvid each year and those who completed their course during the last two years face this problem,” he said.

Mr Muthya Goud from Armoor in Nizamabad district completed his mechanical engineering this year. He got an M.Tech seat in NIT (Calicut). “After waiting for over six months I had no option but to pay from my pocket,” he said.

Mr Venkatesh Naidu from Nellore appealed to the college authorities not     to make students and their families suffer by holding back original certificates.

“I graduated in 2017. The AP government did not release fees for 2016-17 and hence our certificates were held back by the authorities. We appeal to both the governments to be considerate on fee issues in IIITs,” he said.

Telangana state government officials said they were aware of the problems being faced by state students in AP. “Discussions were held on this matter. A decision is likely in the coming days,” said, joint secretary V. Saida of the backward classes welfare department

IIITs at Idupulapaya, Nuzvid and Basar were the brainchild of former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajashekhar Reddy, who established them in 2008-09 to ensure students from these areas get good engineering education.