Innovation labs to bring research culture to arts, commerce & science colleges across Maharashtra

Pune: Innovation facilities that were largely confined to engineering campuses will soon be extended to undergraduate students in arts, commerce and science colleges across Maharashtra, announced state director of higher education Shailendra Deolankar on Saturday. In the first phase, Innovation Council Labs will be established in 1,132 aided colleges under the Directorate of Higher Education.The proposed labs aim to create structured spaces where students from traditional streams can identify real-world social problems, design solutions and develop workable models — marking a shift from theory-centric education to applied learning. Until now, innovation ecosystems such as institutional innovation councils, IDEA Labs and incubation centres have primarily operated in engineering institutions, focusing on prototyping, entrepreneurship and product development. These platforms help students convert ideas into practical solutions through mentorship and experimentation."The move aligns with the National Education Policy's emphasis on removing rigid separation between academic streams and encouraging multidisciplinary problem-solving and skill-based learning. The policy promotes experiential education and innovation across humanities, science and business disciplines, rather than restricting innovation to technical fields," Deolankar said. Under the proposed model, students will work on problem statements derived from real issues faced by communities, local administrations and industries. For instance, psychology and sociology students may design interventions to address excessive mobile phone use among schoolchildren by developing awareness models, behavioural tools or digital wellbeing campaigns supported by data analysis."Commerce students could create systems to help small street vendors manage digital payments, budgeting or inventory tracking using simple financial tools. Science students may focus on low-cost environmental monitoring solutions, such as air-quality tracking in congested urban areas or water-testing kits for semi-urban regions," Deolankar added.Faculty mentors and innovation councils will guide students through stages of idea identification, research, prototype development and testing. Similar innovation councils in higher education institutions already function as ecosystems that nurture creativity, entrepreneurship and problem-solving by supporting ideation and early-stage projects.Education experts believe that extending such laboratories to non-engineering colleges will democratise innovation opportunities. Arts and commerce students, who account for a significant share of higher education enrolment, have traditionally lacked access to structured research infrastructure despite dealing with social, economic and behavioural issues linked to public life.The higher education department plans a phased implementation beginning with aided colleges, followed by support mechanisms for unaided institutions. The initiative is expected to promote interdisciplinary collaboration, enabling students from diverse academic backgrounds to jointly address societal challenges.With innovation labs entering mainstream undergraduate education, colleges are expected to evolve from examination centres into problem-solving hubs, where students learn by engaging with real-world challenges rather than relying solely on classroom theory.