HYDERABAD: A division bench of Telangana High Court on Thursday permitted the Telangana Board of Intermediate Education (TSBIE) to close down 68 inter colleges, including those belonging to Sri Chaitanya and Narayana educational institutions from March 28 (after conduct of theory examinations), as they do not have a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the fire department. The bench directed the board secretary to submit a report by April 3 clearly stating the number of colleges which have been closed by the board as they have failed to fulfil the requirements for affiliation.
Further, the bench directed the secretary to inform about the number of colleges inspected by the fire department and the condition of those colleges. In all, there are 1,084 junior colleges in the State having a strength of 2,70,492 students. There are 1,476 private junior colleges having a strength of 6,95,347 students. At least 29,808 students study in the said 68 colleges which do not have a fire NOC.
The bench comprising Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice A Abhishek Reddy passed this order in the PIL filed by D Rajesh, social worker from Medchal district, seeking direction to the State government to cause detailed enquiry into alleged irregularities committed by Sri Chaitanya and Narayana educational institutions in running its colleges against norms fixed by the government. The petitioner complained that the managements of the said two educational institutions have managed the officials concerned in running intermediate colleges which included day and residential, as per their whims and fancies contrary to the rules and regulations of the government.
The erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh government and the present Telangana government have accorded permissions to both these institutions to establish 45 and 46 intermediate colleges, respectively, in the State despite lack of basic infrastructure, and other facilities to function. Pursuant to the earlier direction of the court, Board Secretary Syed Omer Jaleel filed an affidavit before the court stating that the board has already issued notices to 68 colleges informing them about closure as they have failed to get a NOC.
However, as students who are studying in non-affiliated colleges were also issued hall tickets to appear for the ensuing board examinations, he sought the court to grant time till end of March to close such colleges. If these 68 colleges which have been running without adhering to the rules, then the young students pursuing education may slip into panic and this may lead to any untoward situation, he added. The bench posted the matter to April 7 for further hearing.