State approves 45 new colleges, 2 from Mumbai to start innovative courses

The State Department of Higher and Technical Education has given the go-ahead to 45 new colleges in Maharashtra, which will offer various courses, including the innovative ones framed by the Mumbai university.

The State Department of Higher and Technical Education has given the go-ahead to 45 new colleges in Maharashtra, which will offer various courses, including the innovative ones framed by the Mumbai university. While 10 new colleges in Aurangabad have got approvals – the highest in the state – two new colleges will start functioning under the Mumbai university soon.

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The two colleges – Bombay Suburban Arts and Crafts Education Society in Bandra and Thakur Institute of Career Advancement in Kandivli – will offer a BA in Culinary Science and BSc in Interdisciplinary Science.

Eight colleges under SNDT university in other parts of the state have also received approvals for regular courses. The permissions for these colleges had been pending since October 2010.“The colleges have received approvals on a permanently unaided basis. They will be able to enrol students from the next academic year,” said NB Marale, administrative officer, department of higher education.

However, seven colleges from the state were denied permission. “There were issues related to land and infrastructure. Apart from these colleges, all others have been sanctioned permission for academic year 2015-16, especially those offering innovative courses,” said an official from the higher and technical education department.

Apart from the two colleges affiliated to Mumbai university that have been sanctioned, four are affiliated to Pune university, six to Nanded, 10 to Aurangabad and seven to Amravati, among others. However, among all the 45 colleges, only Mumbai and Pune university colleges will be offering the innovative courses.

According to the government resolution on approvals, if the student strength of any new approved college dips below 50% of its capacity, the permission will be withdrawn. “This has been done to keep a check on the dwindling number of students in colleges that continue to receive similar grants despite having lesser number of students,” said the official.