Mumbai: Maharashtra government has given a nod to starting 121 new colleges, including 22 institutes under the University of Mumbai (MU).
The bulk of the new institutes, which could start functioning as early as the upcoming academic year 2023-24, are regular Arts-Science-Commerce colleges. The state has also approved 21 law schools, 11 of which would be affiliated with MU.
Additionally, 14 institutes offering courses in design, all belonging to Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey (SNDT) Women's University, as well as one Fashion Design institute under Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) have been given the green signal.
On Saturday, the government issued Letters of Intent (LOIs), which is the first step in setting up the institutes. The educational societies that proposed these colleges are now required to fulfill various infrastructure and academic requirements in order to get the final approval. The colleges can start admitting students from 2023-24, if they meet the norms before the new academic year.
SNDT University got the highest number of new colleges, 30, which are being established at various places across the state. One of these institutes, a design college, has been approved to be set up in Shahpur taluka in the Thane district.
While MU had proposed 28 new colleges to the state, it received approvals for 22, half of them regular Arts-Science-Commerce colleges and half law schools. Of these, nine colleges, four regular and five law, will be set up in the Thane district, while Mumbai city will get four regular and two law colleges. Most of the law colleges are proposed to offer three-year LLB programme, while some of them will have five-year integrated law courses.
The new colleges will further increase the size of MU, which already has around 860 affiliated colleges, including 70 odd law schools. The principal of a city law college said that there was no need to add more colleges, as many of the existing ones are unable to fill all their seats. "Most of the three-year law students are working professionals, with no plans to work in the legal field. The law colleges might end up like engineering and teacher training colleges with large vacancies," he said.
