Mumbai: In a consequential reversal, one that will make several colleges and students breathe a sigh of relief, the state govt has rolled back its earlier decision to bar admissions to hundreds of degree colleges that failed to comply with NAAC mandates, granting them a 6-month reprieve.These institutions—deemed ineligible either for not applying for accreditation to NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) or for failing to constitute their statutory College Development Committees—were struck off the central admission portal, triggering widespread concern among students and educators alike. But now, they’re back in the fold. Admissions to these colleges will resume, with their names reinstated on the portal—a decision higher and technical education minister Chandrakant Patil described as one made “in the academic interest of students, to avoid disruption,” and to give colleges a fair window for compliance.In Mumbai alone, 156 colleges faced exclusion for non-accreditation and another 73 for not forming CDCs, a structural requirement under Maharashtra Public Universities Act. Yuva Sena senate members said they too asked the govt to lift the admission ban on these 229 colleges.Many principals said since July 1, 2024, NAAC stopped accepting new applications, citing back-end changes necessitated by roll-out of a new binary accreditation model, with graded, maturity-based tiers. —Hemali Chhapia
