Out of 894 colleges affiliated to Mumbai University, only 350 have formed College Development Committees (CDC) which are mandatory to prepare an overall comprehensive development plan of respective colleges. And out of those having CDCs, only 150 have submitted reports to university. Mumbai University has now given an ultimatum to all colleges to form CDCs within next eight days and start submitting reports which ideally should have been done by all affiliated colleges before the month of June. The Management Council of Mumbai University took the decision in a meeting on Thursday. The issue of absence of CDCs was highlighted during the Senate meeting held recently in March. Members have raised concerns as CDCs are crucial to advise and prepare plans for academic, administrative and infrastructural growth of respective colleges. The CDC comprises the college principal, representatives from management, teaching and non teaching staff, students and external individuals from the field of education, industry, research and social service. It is mandatory under the Maharashtra Public Universities Act 2016 for all colleges to have CDC. Apart from planning and executive growth of the colleges, these committees are also responsible to brainstorm and recommend new courses as per industry needs, updated safety and security measures among other tasks. The CDC is expected to meet at least four times in an academic year to submit an updated growth plan to Mumbai University every year in June, when the new academic year begins. The MU management council on Thursday decided that action will be taken against colleges as per the Maharashtra Public Universities Act 2016, if CDCs are not formed in all remaining colleges within next eight days. "This is a serious lacuna which may be hampering growth of individual institutions. Considering the academic flexibility recommended under the Nation Education Policy (NEP) it is required for colleges to keep updated to provide quality education to students. Presence of CDC and their periodical reports will ensure the same," said an official from Mumbai University. Mumbai University may soon have borewell to meet water shortage faced in its Kalina Campus. This will be part of exhaustive action plan finalised by the Management Council meeting which discussed insufficient water problems from varsity's Kalina campus. "Every time when varsity has to call for water supply through tanker-service, it spends close to Rs.50000. The annual budget of financial years 2024-25, passed recently in the Senate meeting, has provision of Rs.25crore for hostels and water sustainability. The action plan to tackle water shortage will include digging 5-6 borewells and water conservation projects on campus, apart from follow-up with civic authorities to get more water connections," told an official.
