Mumbai: Cluster universities in the state have been allowed to include private unaided colleges. While the state policy, rolled out in December 2023, allowed the inclusion, the Maharashtra Public Universities Act of 2016 permitted only govt and govt-aided institutions to form clusters. The state govt, through a recent gazette, amended the Act to facilitate the inclusion of private, unaided institutions in clusters. The first application in the state from Mumbai’s Malad-Kandivali Education Society, with Nagindas Khandwala College as the lead, is still awaiting the govt’s approval.
A recent gazette specifies that the National Education Policy (2020) emphasised the need for cluster colleges to improve academic quality, promote interdisciplinary courses, and facilitate collaborations, among other things. The gazette also mentioned that the guidelines released by the University Grants Commission (UGC) in September 2022 do not specify any govt aid for such institutions. Additionally, a large number of colleges affiliated with any university is unaided. “Therefore, the Act has been amended to include them in the clusters, as long as one of the constituent colleges is an aided college,” said a govt official.
To facilitate this inclusion, subsection 6 of section 3 of the Universities Act of 2016 that allows the constitution of a cluster university only with govt colleges or govt-aided colleges, was amended. The ordinance was promulgated by the governor’s office.
So far, only Kolhapur’s Warana University has received the govt’s nod to form a cluster under the state policy. The first proposal from the city-based Nagindas Khandwala College awaits approval, despite fulfilling all criteria, said sources. Officials from the department said it is in the final stages of approval. The amendment will also facilitate the formation of these clusters.
Three other cluster universities in the state, including two from the city (Dr Homi Bhabha State University and HSNC University), were formed in 2019 under the central govt’s Rashtriya Uchchatar Shikshan Abhiyan (RUSA) guidelines.
While the central govt policy required colleges in the cluster university to be within 15 km of one another, the state policy relaxed them to include colleges in the same district. The state policy was framed in line with the NEP 2020.