Building owners lock schools over non-payment of rent, Dy CM Bhatti intervenes

Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka on Tuesday, October 15 directed officials to pay pending rents to the owners of the rented buildings of residential schools across the state after some owners locked the premises.

The Deputy Chief Minister issued the orders during a meeting with chairpersons of government-run societies which manage the residential schools for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes and Minorities.

His direction came after owners of some of the rented buildings locked the residential welfare educational institutions to protest over non-payment of rents for these buildings for the last 10 months.

The owners of these buildings displayed banners stating that they were forced to lock the buildings as per the notices served to the State government over non-payment of arrears.

“Since there has been no response from the government, we are left with no option but to lock the buildings. We will unlock the doors only after payment of rent,” reads the banner displayed by the association of owners. They appealed to people to understand their compulsions.

Taking serious note of this, Minister for Backward Classes Welfare Ponnam Prabhakar directed district collectors to book criminal cases against those who locked the gates of residential schools.

The minister said that nearly 70 per cent of the residential schools and colleges were being operated from rented buildings.

Ponnam Prabhakar also said the accumulated pending rents were due for a long time and do not pertain to the last 10 months alone.

Alleging that some vested interests were behind the locking of the gurukuls, he urged the building owners not to get influenced by them.

The minister warned that the government will deal firmly with attempts to disrupt the functioning of schools and colleges. He also directed district Collectors to initiate action.

Assuring that the funds will be released in a day or two, the minister said no one should resort to provocative actions.

In Vemulawada town of Rajanna Sircilla district, the owner of a residential school said he had to lock the building as the rent was not paid for eight months. The pending rent was Rs.14.80 lakh.

After getting an assurance that the government would pay the pending rent, he unlocked the building.

In Huzurnagar in Suryapet, the owner of a building, where a residential school for minorities was functioning, said he was not being paid even minimum rent. Teachers and students were seen waiting outside the locked school building.

Devender Reddy, the owner of a minority school building in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district, said he had not paid the rent for the last 10 months.