Maharashtra: Varsities to face music for missing NAAC deadline

Out of a total of 1,177 aided colleges, only 1,098 have obtained NAAC accreditation. Representation pic

As universities have missed the September 7 deadline to submit reports on actions taken against colleges without National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) accreditation or with inactive accreditation, the directorate of higher education is treating this matter seriously. They have set up a schedule for vice-chancellors and university representatives to meet with Minister of Higher and Technical Education, Chandrakant Patil to provide updates in person.

In a strongly worded letter dated September 4, Dr Shailendra Deolankar, the director of higher education, gave universities a three-day deadline to report the actions taken against these institutes. In this letter, addressed to registrars of all non-agricultural universities in the state, Dr Deolankar instructed them to compile a list of colleges that have not initiated the accreditation process, failed to obtain accreditation or re-accreditation or have inactive or expired accreditation by the start of the first-year admission process.

According to data from the Department of Higher and Technical Education, this year, 24 out of 28 government colleges have received NAAC accreditation. However, out of a total of 1,177 aided colleges, only 1,098 have obtained NAAC accreditation. Among the 2,141 unaided colleges, just 238 have completed their NAAC accreditation as of March 31, 2023.

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In the order issued on September 7, Dr Deolankar stated, "The Directorate is still awaiting information and the list of such affiliated colleges from the universities, and this is a very serious matter. In response, review meetings have been scheduled under the chairmanship of the Honourable Minister of Higher and Technical Education, Maharashtra State, and the Principal Secretary of the Department of Higher and Technical Education. Vice-chancellors and registrars of respective universities will attend these meetings and personally provide updates as per the schedule." These meetings are scheduled over three days, from September 8 to September 13, with the meeting for Mumbai University and SNDT Women's University in Mumbai set for September 13.