Govt clarifies Patwardhan-led panel’s aim is to frame safeguards to prevent aided colleges from converting into private universities solely for profiteering

Pune: The state's higher education department on Saturday clarified that it did not intend to allow aided, non-govt colleges to convert into private universities ‘solely with the motive of profiteering'.The clarification, issued via a statement, followed criticism in the media after a govt resolution (GR) issued on April 28 announced the formation of an expert committee, led by former UGC vice-chairman Bhushan Patwardhan, to draft a comprehensive policy on such conversions to enable greater autonomy and momentum.Shailendra Deolankar, in-charge director of higher education, told TOI that the Patwardhan-led committee was constituted mainly to frame safeguards against such conversions, not to promote them, contrary to interpretations in some reports. Referring to the case of ILS Law College, which has approached the Bombay high court seeking permission to become a private university, Deolankar said the committee was formed as the state lacked a clear policy to legally stop aided institutions from converting into private universities.According to the GR, the panel will examine eligibility criteria for conversion, including academic performance, infrastructure and research quality. It will also review academic, technical, financial and administrative aspects before submitting recommendations to govt within two months."We think the intent behind the GR was misinterpreted by many. Therefore, this clarification has been issued to avoid confusion and the minister (of higher and technical education Chandrakant Patil) has approved this. As of now, there is no provision in the law that says the aided colleges cannot be converted into private universities," Deolankar said.He said in the case of ILS Law College, it became evident that the lack of a well-defined policy was a key weakness in the state's position. "The primary objective of this committee is to formulate such a policy," he said.In the statement, Patil emphasised that the committee's core aim was to curb profiteering while protecting the interests of students, teaching and non-teaching staff. "Govt is taking a firm stand through judicial intervention to ensure that the objectives of institutions driven by profiteering motives, detrimental to student interests, are not realised. These aided institutions were established on land allotted by govt, their staffers receive salary grants from govt and their students receive various educational concessions and scholarships from govt. Govt's stance is that if such institutions attempt to convert themselves into private universities, this attempt must not be permitted to succeed," the statement stated.