By: Express News ServicePune | September 14, 2025 11:17 PM IST 2 min readAddressing CM Devendra Fadnavis who was also present on the stage, Patil said, “In Maharashtra due to some financial difficulties, we are not able to provide educational institutes with the money they need" (X/ChDadaPatil)Maharashtra Higher Education Minister Chandrakant Patil on Sunday said that the State’s Finance Department is not giving out immediate approval for major faculty hiring in universities due to a crunch in finances. Speaking at Engineer’s Day and College of Engineering, Pune (COEP) Abhiman Awards 2025, Patil batted for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds to be used for educational purposes as the state was not able to provide enough funds.Addressing Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis who was also present on the stage, Patil said, “In Maharashtra due to some financial difficulties, we are not able to provide educational institutes with the money they need. But on a big level CSR is your strength. Many works are being done under this. Primarily under the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund people give you money and it is used during various disasters and medical facilities. A model that should be developed for two things, our finance department does not immediately give approval for major faculty hiring due to our financial difficulties, and that students can be sponsored….”Referring to the recent slide in National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) rankings by Maharashtra’s State universities, he continued, “Now our university rankings have gone down due to a lack of professors and research, and a poor faculty-student ratio.”Notably, the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) slipped from rank 37 in 2024 to rank 91 this year. A report by The Indian Express published on September 12 revealed how the faculty crisis at SPPU has gutted many departments. 62 per cent of govt-sanctioned posts are vacant at the university, and the vacancy is over 75 per cent in many major departments like Biotechnology, Anthropology, History, English, Sociology, Sanskrit and Prakrit, and Foreign Languages.Speaking at the event, Fadnavis said self-reliance was the norm of educational institutes around the world but initial funding by the government was essential. He assured more funding for COEP in the near future. Fadnavis said that research conducted by renowned and long-established institutions like COEP is essential for the overall prosperity of the society and expressed optimism that if more autonomy is provided to other educational institutions, their research will be more fruitful.Click here to join Express Pune WhatsApp channel and get a curated list of our stories© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:Chandrakant PatilMaharashtra education department