| Poona University Act, passed by the Bombay Legislature on 10th February, 1948. In the same year,
Dr. M. R. Jayakar assumed office as the first vice chancellor of
the University. Shri B.G.Kher, Chief Minister and Education Minister,
Govt. of Bombay, took a keen interest in setting apart a beautiful
campus for the University. As a result of his efforts, a campus
extending over 411 acres was allocated to the University in early
1950. Initially the University had a jurisdiction extending over
12 districts of Western Maharashtra. However, with the establishment
of the Shivaji University, Kolhapur, in 1964, the jurisdiction of
the University was restricted to 5 districts, namely Pune, Ahmednagar,
Nasik, Dhule and Jalgaon. Out of these, two districts - Dhule and
Jalgaon are attached to the North Maharashtra University established
in August 1990. During the year 1949, there were only 18 colleges affiliated to
the University, with an enrollment of over 8000 students. Thereafter,
the number of colleges increased, and in 1994-95, the University
had 41 post-graduate departments, 209 affiliated colleges and 118
recognized research institutions, with an enrollment of 1,70,000
students for both the under-graduate and post-graduate courses in
different faculties. 70research institutions have been recognized by the University
for research. These include institutions of national importance
like the National Chemical Laboratory (NCL), MACS, CWPRS, NIV, Gokhale
Institute of Politics and Economics, Deccan College among others.
Since its inception, the progress of the University of Pune has
been inextricably linked with the efforts of an illustrious list
of Vice-Chancellors. |
