Mumbai: Eight months after the state govt released regulations for cluster universities, there have been only four proposals. Three are from private colleges, and one from Nagpur involves government-managed colleges. Despite the state’s push for colleges to use new schemes and become independent, managements remain hesitant. For instance, the vertical university plan has also seen no interest since Malad’s Atharva Educational Trust.
While TOI reported on the proposal from Malad-Kandivali Education Society’s (MKES) Nagindas Khandwala College, two other proposals are from Kolhapur’s Shree Warana Shikshan Sanstha and Wardha’s Shiksha Mandal, with Bajaj College of Science as the lead college.An official said that another group from Latur is interested, but their proposal is not yet on paper. A Mumbai college that showed interest a few months ago has now delayed its plans to focus on improving its infrastructure.

Proposals from MKES and Kolhapur’s Warana group are being reviewed by a state-appointed committee and will be presented to the cabinet for approval. The third proposal, involving government colleges in Nagpur, is also under consideration and will be the second government-managed cluster in the state after Homi Bhabha State University, which unified Sydenham, Elphinstone, Institute of Science, and ST Teachers’ Training College. But it was formed under the central government’s Rashtriya Uchchatar Shikshan Abhiyan scheme, not under the National Education Policy of 2020.
An MKES official said they’ve moved their school to a new location and are redeveloping their old building into a 12-storey structure for the cluster university. Additional plans are underway.
When the state govt came out with its regulations, at least 15 college managements across the state showed interest. However, after the regulations were released in December, many colleges took a step back to assess them. A principal from a city college said the cluster universities will be public universities under the chancellorship of the governor, which not many managements are seeing as a lucrative option. “Instead, colleges are exercising more flexibility under the empowered autonomy status, where degrees can be awarded jointly with the parent university. Colleges are free to collaborate with other institutions, offer innovative courses,” said the principal.

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