Affiliation of all engineering colleges in Maharashtra to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Technical University (BATU), Lonere, may not work out in the immediate future. The procedure to facilitate the functioning of BATU covering entire Maharashtra would require time.
As was done in the case of Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS), Nashik, and shifting all colleges to it immediately, the State Government has not taken a decision about BATU. Still, the issue is being discussed at an informal level.
BATU authorities visited Nagpur in search of space for its Regional Centre. BATU has sought four to five acres of land for its Regional Centre.
The engineering colleges under Gondwana University, Gadchiroli; RTMNU, Nagpur; SGA University, Amravati; Universities in Nanded, Aurangabad, Jalgaon might prefer affiliation to BATU. However, Pune and Mumbai are reluctant to get the affiliation of BATU. They consider their degrees of higher status.
Two or three colleges in Nagpur have already got affiliation of BATU. Some others have merged two or three colleges into one like Priyadarshini College of Engineering; Gaikwad-Patil Engineering College. The merger is the result of a consistent fall in the number of students opting for engineering degree courses. For the last few years about half of the seats in many colleges remained vacant.
A formal notification for compulsory affiliation to BATU, has not yet been issued by the State Government. Engineering colleges like Ramdeobaba, Palloti, Gaikwad-Patil have preferred autonomy. Although the degrees are issued jointly by the College and the University, they may not easily agree for affiliation to BATU.
