Mumbai, July 16 : Maharashtra Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil said on Wednesday in the Assembly that the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), exercising its regulatory powers, has cancelled the recognition of 16 B.Ed. colleges in the state.

Of the 16 colleges whose recognition has been cancelled, nine are closed and students have not been admitted there.

It is reported that the admission capacity of the other seven colleges is 500.

Minister Patil said that the recognition of these seven colleges has been cancelled due to non-submission of the evaluation report to the NCTE on time.

The colleges whose recognition has been cancelled have the opportunity to appeal till July 22, 2025.

If the appeal is decided in their favour, those colleges can again participate in the centralised admission process.

He added that as per the New Education Policy, a four-year B.Ed. curriculum that is, Integrated Teacher Training Program has been implemented.

He was replying to a query raised by Shiv Sena MP Amol Khatal and sub-question by BJP MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar.

Meanwhile, State Cooperation Minister Babasaheb Patil in another query said that complaints of illegal land grabbing by moneylenders without a government license will now be investigated at the District Collector level.

Minister Patil said that complaints are being received in the state about land grabbing of many farmers through illegal moneylenders, and the state government has taken a strict stand in such cases.

As of now, 771 hectares of land has been returned to the farmers in such cases, he added.

"It is illegal for unlicensed moneylenders to do business. Only licensed people should charge legal interest rates. Also, moneylenders should display information about the interest rates outside their offices and should also follow the annual interest rate. If the complainants provide information about specific moneylenders and borrowers, they will be looked into to get justice to the concerned," he said.

/IANS