Scholarship Distribution Should Be on ‘Auto System’ Model: CM Devendra FadnavisMeeting of State Higher Education & Development Commission

Mumbai, Sept 2025 : To ensure that students in the state receive their scholarships on time, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis directed officials to prepare a framework for an automated scholarship distribution system, modeled on the salary disbursement system of state government employees.

A meeting chaired by the Chief Minister was held to finalize the 2024–2029 five-year master plan for establishing new colleges in the non-agricultural university sector. Out of 739 proposals deemed eligible, 593 colleges were granted final approval.

The meeting of the Maharashtra State Higher Education and Development Commission (MAHED) took place at Sahyadri Guest House. On this occasion, CM Fadnavis inaugurated the New College Permission System (NCPS), under which institutions can now submit applications online via the portal https://htedu.maharashtra.gov.in/NCPS.

Present were: Higher & Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil; Water Resources Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil; Medical Education Minister Hasan Mushrif; Skill Development, Entrepreneurship & Innovation Minister Mangalprabhat Lodha; MLA Ashish Deshmukh; former MP Sujay Vikhe Patil; Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) O.P. Gupta; Additional Chief Secretary (H&TE) B. Venugopal Reddy; RUSA Project Director Rajendra Bharud; Director of Higher Education Dr. Shailendra Deolankar; Director of Technical Education Dr. Vinod Mohitkar; and other officials.

CM Fadnavis instructed the Social Justice & Special Assistance Department, OBC Welfare Department, and Tribal Development Department to make budgetary provisions and time-bound plans so that students receive scholarships promptly every year. He emphasized that a model similar to the government’s payroll system must be created for scholarship disbursement and presented for approval without delay.

The Chief Minister further stated that necessary reforms should be introduced in social work colleges across the state in line with social responsibility. A university-level committee will prepare a framework to grant recognition to new social work colleges only on a permanent non-grant basis within three months.

He added that Kavikulaguru Kalidas Sanskrit University has been given special approval to start a B.Sc. Aviation and Hospitality course, integrated with Sanskrit and Indian knowledge systems.

On legal education, the CM directed that law colleges should be granted approval only after obtaining a no-objection certificate from the Bar Council of India (BCI) and feedback from the Law and Judiciary Department. He further instructed that courses requiring approval from AICTE, UGC, BCI, and NCTE must not be run without the consent of the Higher & Technical Education Department. For this purpose, a committee under the Chief Secretary will be formed to develop skilled and contemporary courses under higher and skill education.

The CM also said that private universities with ‘A’ grade NAAC accreditation may be permitted to start medical courses, for which the Medical Education Department should submit proposals to the Higher & Technical Education Department.

During the meeting, Mumbai University Vice-Chancellor Dr. Ravindra Kulkarni presented details on the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) in the state.