Institutions offering professional courses without the approval from All India Council For Technical Education (AICTE) or any other competent authorities continue to thrive in the state in the absence of a legal framework to crackdown on such institutes. In a fresh case,some students of WLC College in Pune confronted the college administration asking refund of their fees after they discovered that the college,which is offering undergraduate and post-graduate management courses,was running without a formal approval from the AICTE or any other authorities from the past seven years. However,Director Sanjib Nag was unperturbed by the development and defended the college. The state cabinet had recently cleared the long-pending and much-talked about special ordinance to curb the menace of such institutes. However,there is uncertainty over when it would come into force. Titled Maharashtra Unauthorised Educational Institutions and Unauthorised Courses Prohibition Ordinance,it was withdrawn from a state cabinet meeting in October,2011 when some ministers objected to it. Later,after getting the nod from the cabinet in March,2012,the ordinance could not see light of the day as it could not be implemented. As per the ordinance,running an unauthorised educational institution or course can invite a fine between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 5 lakh and even a jail term of up to one year. Any complaints regarding unauthorised institutions or courses can be raised with the government officials of the level of Joint-Director and Deputy Director of Education,designated as the competent authority to hear the related matters. Senior bureaucrats of the level of Joint Secretary and Deputy Secretary would be an appellate authorities,reads the ordinance. Reacting to the issue,Educational Counsellor Vivek Velankar demanded that the government should implement the ordinance without further delay. The authorities should voluntarily carry out crackdown on bogus institutes and not wait for any formal complaint. Also,there should be time-bound action after receiving complaints from students and parents, he said.
