Mumbai University to Launch ‘Friends of University Campaign’ to Raise Funds

Mumbai University (MU) is going to launch ‘Friends of University Campaign’ to raise funds for the university. Under this campaign, the officials of MU will hold a meeting with reputed philanthropic families and corporate houses seeking funds for the varsity. If the campaign receives a positive response, it would be able to raise Rs. 1,000 crore in the next four years.

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Dr. Sanjay Deshmukh, Vice-Chancellor of MU, revealed that their plan is to meet eminent personalities of Mumbai as well as the corporate house. The primary objective of meeting them is to make them partner with the university. He further added that MU has been looking for help from people outside the country.

He further added that there are private donors who donate funds to MU but there is no formal mechanism like that in Institute of Chemical Technology and Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay to generate external funds. A few years back, MU had formed an association of Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS) alumni to raise money for the construction of new building. However, the group has failed to so.

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The varsity has already drafted a detailed five-year plan for this initiative to improve infrastructural and academic standards and promote faculty and students research. The primary motive of MU is to raise Rs. 160 crore by July 2017. The varsity is going to celebrate its 160^th anniversary in 2017.

The campaign would be taken up in collaboration with Observer Research Foundation, Mumbai. As per the plan, the varsity has proposed to create a high-quality hostel facility for 10,000 students, plan to make 50 of its affiliated colleges to become ‘centre of academic excellence’, refurbishment of old buildings, a university building and a university museum.