Maharashtra government okays university status for Fergusson College

PUNE: The famed

Fergusson College

, one of the oldest in the city, is set lose its ‘FC’ moniker as it has been granted the much-awaited university status. It will now be called Fergusson University.

On Tuesday, the state cabinet decided to confer the university status on the institution, making it Maharashtra’s first-of-its-kind state-private university. The state government will continue to give the salary grants for the existing teachers.

“We are very happy. The existing students will get degree certificates from the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), but the new batch of students — who will take admission in the first year in June 2019 — will be a part of Fergusson University,” said college principal Ravindrasinh Pardeshi.

Speaking about the importance of the university status, Pardeshi said, “When we were autonomous, we could only have courses that were approved by the SPPU. Now that we are a university, we can start any course approved by the University Grants Commission (UGC). We have proposals to start many new schools, including a School of Life Sciences and a School of Medical Sciences, among others.”

“As a university, henceforth, we will also be deciding on the fee structure. Moreover, for whichever new course is started, the salaries of the teachers and the cost of course infrastructure would have to be borne by the Fergusson University,” he added.

Sharad Kunte, chairman of the

Deccan Education Society

which runs the college, called it a historic moment. “For the formation of the university, two-thirds of the grant will come from the Union government and the remaining one-third will come from state government. The decision on selection of teachers, examination and degrees given to students will be taken by the Fergusson University. We will be able to give more emphasis on research and vocational education, among others. The students will also be able to gain industry experience. After passing out, they will not be unemployed.”

Pardeshi said that while the state governor will be the chancellor of the university, the vice-chancellor will be decided by the Deccan Education Society, which will also have a government representative. “The government will have representatives on various boards as it is not a fully private university,” he added.

State education minister Vinod Tawde said, “This is the first state-private university. It has been sanctioned by the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan of the Central government. There are many other colleges in waiting, like Xavier’s. This move will help in academic excellence.”

Fergusson College has been the alma mater of many illustrious academic, social and cultural leaders in the country. Bhalchandra Nemade, famous Marathi writer of books like

Kosala

, Bidhar, Jhool, Jarila, Hool, Hindu-Jagnyachi Samruddha Adgal; D R Kaprekar, mathematician who discovered the Kaprekar Constant and the Kaprekar Number; Jivatram Bhagwandas Kriplani, freedom fighter and senior Congress leader; P L Deshpande, noted playwright, actor and icon of modern Marathi literature; Smita Patil, actress and two-time National Award winner; and former prime ministers Vishwanath Pratap Singh and P V Narasimha Rao had all studied here.