The State Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil announced on November 25 that the Maharashtra government will make it mandatory for students above 18 years of age to get their voter registration done for getting admission to colleges. 

“The government will issue a resolution mandating students to get their voter registration done for getting admission to colleges,” the Minister said.

“As against the goal of attaining the enrolment of 50 lakhs students in the higher education system, Maharashtra has an enrolment of only 32 lakh students,” the Minister further said, while highlighting the dismal percentage of voter registration by students of universities and colleges in the state.

In light of this, the Minister called upon universities to run a campaign to improve the enrolment percentage. 

He also emphasised a need to consider the recommendations of the National Education Policy (NEP) regarding providing education in the mother tongue and skill development.

The government will soon constitute a committee of retired vice-chancellors to address the concerns of vice-chancellors over the implementation of the NEP, the Minister said.

Patil was speaking at a meeting of vice-chancellors of non-agriculture universities at the Raj Bhavan in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who was also present on the occasion, said that the state will implement the NEP in the best possible manner.

“The state government has decided to make suitable amendments in the Maharashtra Public Universities Act, 2016 to make the selection process of vice-chancellors and pro-vice chancellors in sync with the guidelines of the University Grants Commission (UGC),” he said.