India, July 23 -- Maharashtra higher and technical education minister Chandrakant Patil said on Tuesday that the department will initiate action on several long-pending demands of permanently unaided colleges, including financial support for institutions in rural, tribal, hilly, drought-prone and Naxal-affected regions.

"The department will examine measures within its jurisdiction to strengthen such colleges through financial assistance, quality improvement initiatives, research promotion, access to university-level funding, employee-related policies and reforms aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP)," Patil said, while chairing a meeting convened to review issues raised by the Maharashtra State Unaided Colleges Association.

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