The Maharashtra state higher education department on Saturday issued a clarification stating that it does not intend to permit aided, non-government colleges to convert into private universities solely for profiteering purposes. The clarification came in response to media criticism following a government resolution (GR) issued on April 28, which announced the formation of an expert committee led by former UGC vice-chairman Bhushan Patwardhan to draft a comprehensive policy on such conversions.
Committee's Purpose Clarified
Shailendra Deolankar, in-charge director of higher education, explained to TOI that the Patwardhan-led committee was primarily constituted to frame safeguards against such conversions, contrary to interpretations in some reports that suggested the government was promoting the move. Referring to the case of ILS Law College, which has approached the Bombay High Court seeking permission to become a private university, Deolankar noted that the committee was formed because the state lacked a clear policy to legally prevent aided institutions from converting into private universities.
Expert Committee's Mandate
According to the GR, the panel will examine eligibility criteria for conversion, including academic performance, infrastructure, and research quality. It will also review academic, technical, financial, and administrative aspects before submitting recommendations to the government within two months.
"We believe the intent behind the GR was misinterpreted by many. Therefore, this clarification has been issued to avoid confusion, and the minister of higher and technical education, Chandrakant Patil, has approved it. As of now, there is no provision in the law that says aided colleges cannot be converted into private universities," Deolankar said.
He added that in the case of ILS Law College, it became evident that the lack of a well-defined policy was a key weakness in the state's position. "The primary objective of this committee is to formulate such a policy," he stated.
Government's Stance on Profiteering
In the statement, Minister Patil emphasized that the committee's core aim was to curb profiteering while protecting the interests of students, teaching staff, and non-teaching staff. "The government is taking a firm stand through judicial intervention to ensure that the objectives of institutions driven by profiteering motives, detrimental to student interests, are not realized. These aided institutions were established on land allotted by the government, their staff receive salary grants from the government, and their students receive various educational concessions and scholarships from the government. The government's stance is that if such institutions attempt to convert into private universities, this attempt must not be permitted to succeed," the statement asserted.
