Minister Chandrakant Patil Orders Comprehensive Report on Challenges Faced by Educational Institutions in Maharashtra
Pune, 15th May 2025: Maharashtra’s Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil has taken a proactive step to address the ongoing challenges faced by educational institutions across the state. In a high-level meeting held in Mumbai, the minister instructed officials from the Higher and Technical Education Department to compile a detailed report outlining the key problems affecting colleges and universities.
Patil also announced plans to form a dedicated task force to resolve the issues faced by college administrators. The developments were shared during a press conference on Wednesday by Dr. Gajanan Ekbote, Chairperson of the Progressive Education Society, and Prof. Ramdas Zhol, President of the association. Prof. Shyamkant Deshmukh (Secretary), Prof. Jyotsna Ekbote (Joint Secretary), and Dr. Nivedita Ekbote (Deputy Secretary) were also present.
Key Issues Discussed
The meeting addressed several pressing concerns in the state’s higher education system, including:
Implementation of the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) reservation
Reduction in the number of centralized entrance examinations
Uniformity in admission processes for professional courses
Simplification of the scholarship application process on the MahaDBT portal
Streamlining admissions to vacant seats
Regulatory clarity for private universities
Fair distribution of hostel and scholarship benefits for non-grant colleges
Dr. Ekbote revealed that the minister has agreed not to issue No Objection Certificates (NOCs) for the next two years for new engineering and pharmacy colleges. This decision aims to address concerns about the oversaturation of institutions and declining admission rates.
Additionally, officials are considering introducing a separate Common Entrance Test (CET) to fill vacant seats in undergraduate courses such as BBA and BBS.
Patil responded positively to the other suggestions presented during the meeting, raising hopes for much-needed reforms in Maharashtra’s higher education landscape.
