Mumbai University to start 74 new colleges; stakeholders question decision: Report

NEW DELHI: The University of Mumbai (MU) has approved 74 new colleges in the city for the 2022-23 session, as per a report from the Hindustan Times . The stakeholders have questioned the decision as they say that approving colleges in a city that is overflowing with colleges shows zero research by the university.

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The university proposed a plan of opening new colleges in the Mumbai city and suburbs, Thane , Raigad, Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri, and Palghar on August 14 in a meeting. According to the university’s new perspective plan, the new colleges include 46 arts, science, and commerce; 15 law; eight night and three women’s colleges, as per a report from The Times of India. The plan was supposed to be sent to the government after the approval of the senate of the university.

According to the TOI report, the decision was opposed by The Bombay University and College Teachers’ Union (BUCTU) at the meeting, who said that several colleges still have vacant seats. MU has also seen a 20% reduction in admissions in the year of pandemic, the report said.

On August 30, the university approved the 74 new colleges to which several stakeholders have expressed their dissent, as per the Hindustan Times report.

Mumbai University new colleges

While the university officials said that the decision has been taken considering the demands, the teacher representatives and other academic council members said that the decision is not in line with the statutory laws.

The representatives said that a committee should be formed to conduct surveys on location and measure the need from stakeholders to approve new colleges. No such survey was conducted, they said.

“Approving colleges in a city that already is overflowing with colleges, especially for traditional arts, science and commerce, shows zero research by the varsity, said Tapati Mukhopadhyay, president, Maharashtra Federation of University and College Teachers’ Organisation (MFUCTO), as per the Hindustan Times report.

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The university should focus on giving autonomy to existing colleges rather than starting new colleges, an official said, as per the report.

Last year, the Mumbai University had proposed 36 new colleges. Later, the government added 18 new colleges to the list, however, only 24 colleges were approved.

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