The state government on Monday released Rs 1,290 crore to private colleges under the fee reimbursement scheme  with the move serving to abort their strike that was supposed to have been undertaken from Tuesday. The state government assured private engineering, pharmacy, MBA, MCA and B.Ed colleges that the funds will be deposited in their accounts. The government also agreed to release another Rs 1,200 crore by March 31.

The Consortium of Private Professional College Managements' Association had called the strike on the demand that the government clear arrears under the fee reimbursement scheme. According to private colleges, the state government has to release a total of Rs 3,600 crore towards payments outstanding from last year.

The private engineering college managements' body, Consortium of Engineering College Managements' Association (CECMA) has also agreed to put off the strike. The association has decided to wait till Friday for the amount to get credited to their accounts but said that the strike would be taken up if the funds do not get deposited by then.

The state government was also urged to introduce uniform fee structure in engineering colleges. The colleges said that in keeping with a Supreme Court directive, they will submit their annual expenditure details to the Admission and Fee regulatory Council (AFRC) in the coming two days.

"Once we have submitted that, the state government should introduce a uniform fee structure for all colleges," said Rajeswar Reddy, secretary, CECMA.