Mumbai, Maharashtra (PTI): Maharashtra Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil on Tuesday directed his department to prepare and publish standard operating procedures (SOPs) to curb cases of question paper leaks, and fix the responsibility of officers and employees to prevent this malpractice.
He also directed vice-chancellor and pro-vice-chancellors of public universities in the state to hold weekly interaction with students and address their academic as well as other grievances promptly.
In an online meeting with vice-chancellors of public universities, Patil directed all public universities in the state to adopt a uniform academic timetable from the educational year 2026-27 to ensure effective implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP).
His directions come in the wake of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led protests in Delhi over NEET-UG exam paper leaks, which culminated in the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan last month.
During the online meeting, Patil said, "Immediate action should be taken to implement a uniform academic timetable for all public universities in the state from the 2026-27 academic year. The necessary timetable should be finalised within a week and implemented."
To curb cases of question paper leaks, the education department was asked to prepare and publish standard operating procedures (SOPs) on the lines of the Centre.
Patil directed that a circular be issued fixing the responsibility of officers and employees concerned for preventing paper leaks.
The minister also directed universities to prepare an academic framework for effective implementation of the fourth-year honours degree programme from the 2026-27 and 2027-28 academic years.
He asked vice-chancellors and pro-vice-chancellors to increase direct interaction with students and address their academic and other concerns promptly.
He directed each vice-chancellor and pro-vice-chancellor to interact with 50 students once a week and submit a report to the government on the issues raised and the measures taken to resolve them.
For effective implementation of the NEP, universities were also asked to identify clusters of colleges and promote sharing of available human resources, infrastructure, laboratories, libraries and other academic resources among them.
The minister directed that a workshop be organised for heads of examination controller departments to study how the NEP is being implemented in other states.
Patil also called for a detailed study of cluster courses developed by the University of Mumbai and other universities to prepare comprehensive and quality cluster courses for the state.
Each university was asked to conduct at least one cluster activity every month, according to the directions issued at the meeting.
He also directed universities to bring uniformity in workload in accordance with norms prescribed by the University Grants Commission (UGC), besides creating uniformity in relevant courses and implementing them across institutions.
This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.
