Maharashtra gets first private colleges for veterinary, dairy UG courses; adds 520 seats

Maharashtra is set to get its first lot of private self-financed colleges for veterinary science and dairy technology. This will expand the undergraduate opportunities in these two disciplines reports Musab Qazi of Careers360. The new institutions will be affiliated with Maharashtra Animal and Fishery Sciences University (MAFSU), Nagpur.

According to Musab, till date five private veterinary colleges and three dairy technology colleges have been approved under MAFSU. The move was made possible by a 2023 amendment to the MAFSU Act, 1998, which allowed the university to affiliate private unaided colleges. Since the early 2000s, Maharashtra has had private agricultural colleges.

The five veterinary colleges will start with 80 seats each for the Bachelor of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry (BVSc & AH) programme. This will add 400 seats to the state’s undergraduate veterinary education capacity. Adding another 120 seats, the three new dairy technology colleges will also offer 40 seats each for the Bachelor of Technology (BTech) in Dairy Technology.

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Maharashtra expands private veterinary, dairy education

The five new private veterinary colleges are Yashodeep Veterinary College, Saralgaon, Thane; Tatyasaheb Kore Institute of Veterinary and Animal Science, Warananagar, Kolhapur; Parikrama Veterinary Science College, Kashti, Ahilyanagar; Shri Siddhagiri College of Veterinary Science, Kaneri, Kolhapur; and Dr Rajendra Suryawanshi College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Gandheli, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

The three new dairy technology institutions are Late Shaktikumar Sancheti Dairy Technology College, Buldhana; Prof Prataprao Borade Dairy Technology College, Gandheli, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar; and Aditya Dairy Technology College, Beed.

Musab reports that, until now, MAFSU had only its own colleges for veterinary science, dairy technology and fishery sciences. The expansion will also increase the number of trained professionals who will be present in Maharashtra’s veterinary and dairy sectors. 

Experts in the veterinary sector and academicians in these fields have said that Maharashtra needs more trained veterinarians and dairy professionals who can meet the needs of its livestock and dairy sectors.