State plans common guidelines for autonomous colleges amid fee, course concerns

Pune: The Maharashtra higher education and technical department has tasked the Maharashtra State Academic and Research Council (MahaSARC) with framing uniform state-level guidelines for autonomous colleges by Aug 15. The move is intended to bring uniformity in the operations of autonomous colleges, particularly regarding fee structures and course implementation.As a precursor to the new policy, a special session will be held this Friday during a meeting of vice-chancellors and pro-vice-chancellors of state public universities at the Maharashtra State Faculty Development Academy (MSFDA) in Pune. Currently, 151 autonomous colleges in Maharashtra have implemented the four-year degree programme under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.The move follows a July 21 meeting at the Mantralaya chaired by higher and technical education minister Chandrakant Patil. The discussion addressed several issues, including the varied fees charged by autonomous institutions, the requirement for university approval of such fees, affiliation charges, and the protocol for starting or discontinuing courses.“The UGC issued regulations for autonomous colleges in 2023, which were expected to be followed. However, contentious issues remain between colleges and universities, especially regarding fees,” said Shailendra Deolankar, director of higher education. “The minister has entrusted MahaSARC to frame uniform guidelines based on the 2023 UGC notification to ensure these rules are applied consistently and are binding on all institutions.”Deolankar said that key disputes centre on whether a college has the sole right to set fees for self-financed courses where they must bear the total cost of faculty and resources. There have also been complaints of “exorbitant” and inconsistent fees across different colleges.However, the proposal has met with scepticism from some educational leaders. Gajanan Ekbote, chairperson, Progressive Education Society, argued that new guidelines are unnecessary.“UGC regulations already exist; the state should simply ensure they are implemented,” Ekbote said. “While curbing high fees is good for students, these colleges are already affiliated with parent universities that are empowered to resolve such issues. As key stakeholders, we should be consulted before anything is framed. We will scrutinise whatever the govt proposes.”The financial viability of such regulations is also a major concern for college administrators. Shyam Mude, principal, Fergusson College, said, “While uniform fees are positive from a student’s perspective, we must look at what goes into offering a course,” Mude said. “In grant-in-aid colleges, the govt pays the staff salaries. However, for specialised programmes like microbiology, biotechnology, data science, or cybersecurity, the management must hire additional faculty and provide expensive resources. Recovering these costs through student fees is the only viable option. Unless the govt pays the salaries for these specialised teachers, it will be difficult for autonomous colleges to offer anything beyond traditional courses.”