Maha higher education minister slams private colleges for poor governance

Delivering a stern warning to private educational institutions, Maharashtra's Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil criticized their poor administration despite receiving substantial government financial aid.

Patil emphasized, “Institutions must take their responsibilities seriously and improve both transparency and accountability.”

He highlighted that almost 80% of students in Maharashtra benefit from scholarship schemes that cover either half or the entire tuition fee.

With this level of state support, he argued, operating educational institutions should not be financially burdensome.

“However, managing an institution is not just about receiving funds. The administrators must step up,” Patil observed that the administrators are not fulfilling their responsibility.

Patil also pointed out that educational institutions were showing little effort in tapping into Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds, despite the presence of numerous companies across the state.

He urged them to appoint dedicated officers to secure CSR contributions, noting that such funding could significantly lessen their dependence on government aid.

Raising concerns about declining enrollment, the minister shared that in the previous academic year, 16,000 pharmacy seats, 50,000 engineering seats, and another 50,000 BBA seats remained vacant.

He recommended that no new engineering or pharmacy colleges be granted approval for the next two years and called on the state government to use its regulatory authority to implement this freeze.

Touching on the government's efforts to advance girls’ education, Patil noted that even in the absence of formal requests from institutions, the state had proactively introduced a scheme offering free professional education to female students.

Under this initiative, 50% of girl students receive full tuition and examination fee waivers, supported by a ₹900 crore budget.

Patil also raised alarm over additional fees levied by some institutions, which often surpass the tuition amount.

He indicated that the state is considering bringing these extra charges under regulatory control and is exploring the possibility of covering them within the scholarship system to improve transparency and ease the financial load on students.

Further support for female students is also on the way through the 'Earn and Learn' scheme, which will offer monthly stipends of ₹1,000 to ₹1,500 to 25% of girls enrolled in professional courses.

Gajanan Ekbote, president of the Progressive Education Society, said, “University regulations must evolve in line with the National Education Policy (NEP), as the global higher education landscape is changing rapidly.”

He stressed the need for structural reforms to maintain relevance and competitiveness.