The Maharashtra state government is moving forward with plans to establish a comprehensive Fine Arts University that will consolidate private and government institutions teaching music, dance, drama, visual arts, and related artistic disciplines under one unified system. The Directorate of Arts will soon submit a formal proposal recommending the creation of this single Fine Arts University, replacing the earlier plan for a separate visual arts university.

According to education officials, the proposed university will be modeled after specialized institutions like the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University. Once established, all arts colleges in the state currently affiliated with various public universities will be required to transfer their affiliation to the new institution. This represents a significant restructuring of arts education in Maharashtra.

The demand for an independent art university has been pending for nearly 45 years, with more than 150 art colleges and institutions consistently advocating for a separate visual arts university. Following multiple protests in previous years by art students and faculty members from art colleges, the Higher and Technical Education Department had created the Maharashtra State Art Education Board specifically for diploma-level courses and allowed many institutions to affiliate themselves with it. However, the demand for a full university status remained unmet.

To explore the feasibility of creating a visual arts university, the government previously established a committee headed by Professor Rajnish Kamat, vice-chancellor of Homi Bhabha State University. The committee concluded that establishing a university solely dedicated to visual arts would be difficult due to technical constraints and logistical challenges. As a result, the government shifted its approach and began exploring the concept of a broader Fine Arts University covering all art disciplines.

Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil had received repeated requests from stakeholders throughout the arts education sector for such a comprehensive university. Acting on these demands, he directed the Directorate of Arts to thoroughly investigate the matter and develop a viable proposal. The directorate subsequently decided to recommend a comprehensive Fine Arts University that would encompass visual arts, fine arts, dance, drama, and music programs.

A senior department official explained that any institution offering degree programs in these artistic fields would need to affiliate itself with the proposed university once it becomes operational. This would create a centralized system for arts education quality control and standardization across the state. The concept of a Fine Arts University is not entirely new to Maharashtra, as in 2008, the then Higher and Technical Education Minister had announced a similar proposal, but it failed to move forward due to various bureaucratic and financial constraints.

Currently, the Art University Establishment Action Committee, led by Shripad Bhalchandra Joshi, has revived the campaign after refusing affiliation with the existing Arts Board, arguing that only full university status would adequately serve the needs of arts education in the state. This committee has been instrumental in maintaining pressure on the government to fulfill this long-standing demand from the arts education community.

Officials indicated that the state government will soon form a specialized committee tasked with drafting the detailed structure, governance model, and operational framework of the proposed university. Based on the recommendations from this committee, further concrete steps will be taken to bring the long-pending demand to completion. The establishment of this Fine Arts University would represent a major milestone in Maharashtra's educational landscape and could serve as a model for other states seeking to consolidate and enhance their arts education systems.