As MCE Society, Pune gets state government nod; city’s university count reaches 15

Days after the state government granted university status to the College of Engineering Pune (CoEP), it awarded varsity status to yet another educational institute from Pune on Saturday

Days after the state government granted university status to the College of Engineering Pune (CoEP), it awarded varsity status to yet another educational institute from Pune on Saturday. With this, Pune’s total university count is now 15, including a state university, SPPU, COEP and central university run by defence.

Main state-run university in Pune is the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) under which there are more than 950 affiliated colleges. (HT PHOTO)

The newly conferred university comes under the Maharashtra Cosmopolitan Education (MCE) Society, Pune, founded by Dr P A Inamdar, an educationist and politician. The MCE Society, Pune, has been in the process of getting university status for the last few years and finally, the state government issued a gazette publishing an act – the Maharashtra Act no. XXXVII of 2022 – to provide for establishment, incorporation and regulation of Dr P A Inamdar University, Pune, for development and advancement of higher education in Maharashtra.

Inamdar said, “We are glad to get university status but still, there are some processes to be completed and we will soon make an official announcement about the same.”

As per the notification, the objects of the university given in the act are, “To provide learning, teaching, capacity, capability and skills development and research and development in higher and technical education, covering liberal arts, humanities, social sciences, life sciences and biotechnologies, nano-sciences and technologies, professional disciplines such as engineering, technology, management, business and commerce, applied and creative arts, vocational education, media, information and communication technology and education per se and their inter-disciplinary studies and development with emphasis on construction, real estate, infrastructure and project (CRIP).”

Various schools and colleges and other institutes under the MCE Society are located at Azam campus in Camp area opposite to Golibar maidan. There are several courses on offer under this group of institutions right from kindergarten in schools to post-graduate and research programmes in various streams. Once the institute becomes a university, it can introduce dual degree programmes and multi-disciplinary courses apart from having collaborations with foreign universities. It can also introduce tailored courses exclusively for students or professionals working in the industry.

With one more institute getting university status, there are now 15 private universities in Pune. Recently, the government-owned CoEP was granted ‘unitary technological public university’ status on June 21. That apart, the main state-run university in Pune is the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) under which there are more than 950 affiliated colleges in the Pune, Nashik and Ahmednagar districts. While the two other oldest and ‘deemed to be’ universities in Pune are Deccan College Post Graduate and Research Institute, and Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics. Both these institutions are among the prominent institutes in the country in their respective subjects. They have been granted ‘deemed to be university’ status under which various diplomas, degrees and post-graduate courses are run for students. There are other private universities in Pune, amongst which Symbiosis International University (SIU) is at the top and holds the 38th rank in the 2021 National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF). The other private universities in Pune include MIT World Peace University, Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University, Dr D Y Patil Vidyapeeth Pune, Ajeenkya D Y Patil University, Vishwakarma University and Flame University.

Professor Nitin Karmalkar, former vice-chancellor of SPPU, said, “The new education policy (NEP) is more focused and encourages greater autonomy and degree-granting through autonomous or newly-formed universities. It is a welcome step I must say and it is necessary to increase the number of new universities looking at the number of students coming to Pune city from all across the globe to study. We cannot depend only on one state university and burden it as many new colleges are starting and they need universities to tie up with for degree granting. But at the same time, quality conscious and better education should be given by these newly-granted universities as students are worried about taking admissions, their careers and whether these degrees will be recognised or not.”

List of universities in Pune

State or centre-run universities

Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU)

College of Engineering Pune (CoEP) Unitary Technological Public University

Deccan College Post Graduate and Research Institute (Deemed to be University)

Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (Deemed to be University)

Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (Deemed to be University)

Private universities

Symbiosis International University (SIU)

MIT World Peace University

Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University

Dr DY Patil Vidyapeeth Pune

Ajeenkya DY Patil University

Vishwakarma University

Flame University

Spicer Adventist University

Sri Balaji University, Pune

Dr P A Inamdar University