Karimnagar students seek certificates as RTF payments remain pending
HYDERABAD: Nearly 40 students from Karimnagar have complained that colleges are withholding their original certificates over pending fees linked to delayed Reimbursement of Tuition Fee (RTF) scholarships, social activist S.Q. Masood said.
Activists say students face pressure over scholarship delays
Masood, co-founder of The Democracy Dialogue (TDD) and the Association for Socio-Economic Empowerment of the Marginalised (ASEEM), said students raised the complaints over pending RTF scholarships for the 2025-26 academic year.
According to Masood, the Telangana Council of Higher Education (TSCHE) has instructed colleges to return students’ original certificates. However, he alleged that several colleges have not followed the direction.
Meanwhile, ASEEM has written to colleges in Karimnagar. The organisation asked them to return the certificates without demanding payment of pending fees.
Letters cite government delay and university rules
In a letter to the principal of Vaageshwari Degree College, Karimnagar, ASEEM cited communications from the TSCHE, Commissioner of Technical Education and Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad (JNTUH).
The organisation said students should not be penalised for delays in scholarship and fee reimbursement payments. It argued that the pending payments were due to delays in government disbursal, not the students.
Therefore, ASEEM urged the college to return the original certificates without insisting on fee payment.
The organisation also cited JNTUH regulations. These state that an affiliated college could face disaffiliation if it retains students’ original certificates.
Similarly, ASEEM sent a representation to the principal of Government Degree College, Karimnagar. It again sought the return of students’ certificates and cited the same government and university communications.
The representations referred to an email ASEEM received on August 4, 2026. They also cited a 2017 communication from the Commissioner of Technical Education and an April 15, 2021 Telangana High Court order in W.P. (PIL) No. 30 of 2019.
In addition, the letters referred to a February 23, 2024 TSCHE communication on fee reimbursement. They also cited a March 7, 2024 letter from the JNTUH registrar.
The Telangana government’s Higher Education Department lists TSCHE among the institutions under its administration.
