With Mithibai and Jai Hind Colleges recently being granted autonomy by UGC, the count of MU affiliated colleges with autonomous status has increased to 11.

At present, six applications are awaiting UGC approval.(HT File)

Days after the University Grants Commission (UGC) granted autonomy to 62 universities and colleges across the country, six institutes from Mumbai that have applied for autonomy are hoping that the new guidelines will fasten the process.

“We applied for autonomy in June 2017 and have been following up with authorities ever since. While there was a slight delay in the beginning, right now we are hoping the revised guidelines will help push our application file further in the process,” said BK Mishra, principal, Thakur College of Engineering and Technology.

He added the initial delay was caused because of the man power crunch at the University of Mumbai (MU).

With Mithibai and Jai Hind Colleges recently being granted autonomy by UGC, the count of MU affiliated colleges with autonomous status has increased to 11.

The list includes St Xavier’s College, KJ Somaiya College, VJTI College, Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS), Nagindas Khandwala College and Ramnarain Ruia College. Other than these, five university departments have autonomy.

At present, six applications are awaiting UGC approval. Although SIES College, Sion, had applied for autonomy in May 2016, it had to reapply after UGC guidelines for autonomy were revised. “We are hoping to hear from UGC in the coming weeks,” said principal Uma Shankar. Similarly, S K Somaiya College, Vidyavihar, had to reapplya s per the new guidelines.

UGC had mentioned that colleges scoring an ‘A’ grade in three consecutive National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) cycles should be awarded autonomy. This was also done to reduce the burden of universities, with hundreds of colleges affiliated to it. The Mumbai varsity has more than 750 colleges affiliated with it.

The new guidelines, referred to as University Grants Commission (Conferment of Autonomous Status upon Colleges and Measures for Maintenance of Standards in Autonomous Colleges) Regulations, 2018, also states that henceforth colleges with a NAAC score of 3.51 and above shall be considered for autonomous status ‘without on-site visit by the Expert Committee’ by a team from UGC.

Several others are also in the midst of getting initial approvals from the management before applying for autonomy.

“We have been eyeing the autonomous status for some time now, but we first want to make sure that we are ready for it. Once we follow all the concurrent steps, we will definitely approach the university,” said Shobhana Vasudevan, principal, RA Podar College, Matunga.