Maharashtra drought-affected students in 265 talukas across 34 districts will receive an examination-fee waiver, with higher-education institutions directed not to collect the fee from eligible students, according to Higher Education Director Dr Shailendra Devlankar. The measure is intended to prevent financial hardship caused by drought from disrupting students’ education.
The announcement was made at a press conference, where Devlankar said the Higher Education Directorate had established a central cell to address students’ problems. Public universities across the state have also been asked to create separate task forces to handle requests related to examination-fee waivers, educational difficulties and other forms of assistance.
Students will be able to seek support through designated contact officers appointed by their respective universities. The Directorate has asked students in drought-affected talukas to approach officials from their university’s Board of Examinations and Evaluation or Student Development Board for assistance.
The drought-related education measures follow the declaration of drought conditions, identified as Trigger-1, in 265 talukas across 34 districts. The source report attributes the rainfall deficit to the impact of El Niño. The announcement does not specify the total number of students eligible for the waiver or the overall financial cost of the measure.
At the university level, task forces will review students’ academic difficulties, examination-fee waiver requests and other assistance-related issues. The Higher Education Directorate will review the implementation on the first and sixteenth of every month, creating a fortnightly monitoring cycle at the state level.
Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil has asked universities to go beyond merely implementing the government decision and to support affected students. The statement places responsibility on university administrations to identify and resolve problems rather than leave students to navigate the process without institutional assistance.
The department is also considering the development of a dedicated dashboard to track students’ complaints and educational difficulties. According to Devlankar, the proposed system would help officials follow up on complaints and ensure that issues are resolved within a reasonable timeframe. The dashboard has been described as a proposal at this stage, and no launch date has been announced.
For students connected with Savitribai Phule Pune University, the listed contact officers are Dr Rajendra Talware, Dr Savita Kulkarni and Ajay Thube. The contact numbers provided by the Directorate are 9890642431, 7720036774 and 7588169134. The next administrative milestone is the scheduled review of implementation by the Higher Education Directorate on the first and sixteenth of each month.
