Chapter I PRELIMINARY

1. (1) This Act may be called the Maharashtra Marathi Bhasha Vidyapeeth Act, 2023.
2. (2) It shall come into force on such date, as the State Government may by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-

1. (i) "Academic Council" means the Academic Council of the university;
2. (ii) "adjunct professor", "adjunct associate professor" or "adjunct assistant professor" means a person from industry, trade, agriculture, commerce, social, cultural, academic or any other allied field who is so designated during the period of collaboration or association with the university;
3. (iii) "authorities" means the authorities of the university as specified by or under this Act;
4. (iv) "Board of Management" means the Board of Management of the university;
5. (v) "centre" means a centre established, managed and maintained by the university as prescribed by the Statutes, and includes centre for academic services;
6. (vi) "Chancellor" or "Vice-Chancellor" means, respectively, the Chancellor or the Vice-Chancellor of the university;
7. (vii) "choice based credit system" means the curricular system that offers multiple inter-disciplinary choices for students to select from the courses (core, elective or minor or soft skill or skill enhancement courses, etc.) to accumulate credits as prescribed by the Statutes;
8. (viii) "collaboration" means collaborative academic activity of the university with other universities, academic institutions including local, regional, national or international institutions, industries, research institutions and organizations;
9. (ix) "Dean" means the Dean of the School of the university;
10. (x) "De-notified Tribes (Vimukta Jatis)" means tribes declared as such by the State Government, from time to time;
11. (xi) "department" means a department established by the university for teaching a particular subject or a group of subjects in the university;
12. (xii) "Director" means a head of an institution including a centre or a school of the university as designated by the Board of Management;
13. (xiii) "Economically Weaker Section" means any Economically Weaker Section as notified by the State Government, from time to time;
14. (xiv) "fees" means tuition fees, other fees and charges, including developmental charges, to be collected by the university and its sub-centres;
15. (xv) "head of the university department" or "head of the university centre" means a head of the university Department or head of the university Centre, respectively;
16. (xvi) "higher education" means the pursuit of knowledge beyond learning at the stage of higher secondary school education or equivalent level thereof;
17. (xvii) "hostel" means a place of residence for the students of the university, provided, established or maintained by the university; (xviii) "inter-disciplinary studies" means the combined academic studies and research in different disciplines as prescribed by the Statutes;
18. (xix) "Knowledge Resource Centre" means a library established by the university on the campus or sub-centres of the university to hold in print, electronic and audio-video format, monographs, reference volumes, texts and review books, all types of journals and any other material in any format useful for education, research, extension services or for similar purposes;
19. (xx) "multi-disciplinary studies" means the combined academic and research programs in different streams of a particular discipline as prescribed by the Statutes;

1. (xxi) "Nomadic Tribes" means tribes wandering from place to place in search of their livelihood, as declared by the State Government, from time to time;
2. (xxii) "non-vacational academic staff" means such staff as the State Government may classify to be non-vacational academic staff and includes all such staff which is complimentary to academic staff but, shall not include the staff engaged purely in discharging administrative functions; (xxiii) "Other Backward Classes" means any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens as declared by the State Government and includes Other Backward Classes declared by the Government of India in relation to the State of Maharashtra, from time to time;
3. (xxiv) "prescribed" means prescribed by the Statutes or Ordinances or Regulations, as the case may be, made by or under this Act;
4. (xxv) "Registrar" means the Registrar of the university;
5. (xxvi) "regional centre" or "sub-centre" means a comprehensive inherent independent unit of the university for decentralization of academic, administrative, research and extension activities, with the objective of improving efficiency and effectiveness; (xxvii) "regulatory authorities" means the regulatory authority established by the Government of India, from time to time, for laying down norms and conditions for ensuring academic standards of higher education, such as University Grants Commission, National Council of Teacher Education, Distance Education Council, etc.; (xxviii) "Scheduled Castes" means such castes, races or tribes or parts of, or groups within, such castes, races or tribes as are deemed to be Scheduled Castes, in relation to the State of Maharashtra under article 341 of the Constitution of India;
6. (xxix) "Scheduled Tribes" means such tribes or tribal communities or parts of or groups within, such tribes or tribal communities as are deemed to be Scheduled Tribes in relation to the State of Maharashtra under article 342 of the Constitution of India, residing in any part of the State of Maharashtra;
7. (xxx) "School" means a school of studies maintained and managed by the university;
8. (xxxi) "Special Backward Category" means socially and educationally backward classes of citizens declared as a Special Backward Category by the State Government; (xxxii) "State" means the State of Maharashtra; (xxxiii) "State Government" or "Government" means the Government of Maharashtra; (xxxiv) "Statutes", "Ordinances" and "Regulations" means, respectively the Statutes, Ordinances and Regulations of the university, made by or under this Act;
9. (xxxv) "student" means an individual who is admitted and registered for any academic programme of the university; (xxxvi) "teacher" means full-time approved professor, associate professor, assistant professor, reader, lecturer, librarian, principal, Director of an institution, Director of Knowledge Resource Centre, Director of Centre of Lifelong Learning and Extension, deputy or assistant librarian in the university, Director or instructor of physical education in any school, centre, department or sub-centre or regional centre of the university; (xxxvii) "university" means the Marathi Bhasha Vidyapeeth, Riddhapur, Amravati established under section 3 of this Act; (xxxviii) "University Grants Commission" means the University Grants Commission established under the University Grants Commission Act, 1956 (3 of 1956).