Maharashtra Govt. Rejects Self-Financing University Proposal of ILS Law College

Maharashtra government has refused ILS Law College’s plan to become a private university. The proposal was rejected because of staff objections and high fee concerns.

Maharashtra government denies ILS Law College’s bid to be a private university: In a big decision for legal education in Maharashtra, the state government has turned down the petition filed by Pune-based ILS Law College for conversion into a self-financing private university. Founded in 1924, ILS Law College is one of the oldest and most renowned bodies for law studies in India. It runs as a government-aided college under the Indian Law Society (ILS) at the moment. The proposal was intended to give the college more freedom in academic, financial, and administrative matters by designating it a private university.

The government reportedly turned down the proposal mainly because of concerns related to students' affordability and accessibility. Being a grant-in-aid institution at present, ILS provides legal education at a throwaway cost with the Blessings of the government. Adopting phasing to self-financing might result in a sharp rise in fees , making it difficult for students from modest backgrounds to pursue legal courses in college.
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A significant other cause of the dismissal was the lack of consent from permanent teaching staff . A majority of the aided college’s staff were against the prospect of the institution being privatised, and were concerned that this would mean losing job security, service benefits, and government subsidies. The state government observed that such opposition rendered the proposal unapproachable in its current form.

However, under a special dispensation, the government has permitted the Indian Law Society, the body that runs ILS Law College, to form a new private university in a different name. This implies that the existing ILS Law College “shall continue to exist as a government-aided institution” and the Society can start a new self-financed university in a different location in the future.

The decision is also being interpreted as a means to ensure accessibility and the public nature of a law college, which is one of the most prestigious in Maharashtra. The Indian Law Society’s dream of establishing a law university is not dead yet, but it will have to find a way to balance the triune imperatives of affordability, equity, and staff welfare.

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