Mumbai, October 10, 2015: Maharashtra National Law University Mumbai (MNLU) today celebrated its 1st Foundation Day Celebration at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). The celebration was graced by Shri. Devendra Fadnavis Hon’ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra and Shri. Vinod Tawde Hon’ble Minister of Higher & Technical Education.
MNLU is the first law university for the State of Maharashtra, and is currently offering courses such as BA, LL.B Hons. Five year integrated program and one year LL.M (Legal Pedagogy and Research) program. The university has received a very positive response of around 3000 applications for its opening batch. The classes for this batch are already under way.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri. Devendra Fadnavis Hon’ble Chief of Maharashtra said; “It was always a dream for our government that we should have institutes of national repute for imparting legal education and the government decided to have 3 such institutions at Mumbai, Aurangabad and Nagpur. I am happy that we could start the first one at Mumbai.”
He further announced that the Government of Maharashtra is going to start an International Arbitration Centre in Mumbai as there is a huge scope for it, as most global companies have their presence here. While referring to students he added, “MNLU has offered you an opportunity to be part of a mechanism which caters to the youth of India and I am sure you will use it to the fullest.”
MNLU is currently housed and is temporarily being operated from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) campus until an independent and new campus for “Maharashtra National Law University Mumbai”. The MNLU students have been offered the same facilities as TISS students. The students also have access to TISS library for their research/study purposes.
Shri. Vinod Tawde Hon’ble Minister of Higher & Technical Education expressed his desire that MNLU should include certain other novel disciplines such as International Maritime law and International Humanitarian law. He also assured the students that MNLU will celebrate its next Foundation Day at its own campus and congratulated them on the launch of its maiden newsletter, “Nyūsuretā” (means newsletter in Japanese).
“Starting of a new campus was a challenge. Understanding our concerns and challenges, the support offered by The Govt. of Maharashtra and TISS has helped MNLU become operational quickly and has also created a healthy environment for students to pursue their courses. As a pioneer law university in the state of Maharashtra NLU will look forward to produce and groom the talent” said Prof. (Dr.) Bhavani Prasad Panda, Vice Chancellor, Maharashtra National Law University
Speaking on MNLU and TISS association, Dr S Parasuraman, Director, TISS said “We welcome MNLU, the presence of university at the campus will encourage dialogue/ conversations and engagement amongst students from both institutes and also offer opportunity to learn from each other.” He further added that “In a country like India, optimum utilization of resources (sharing attitude) at educational institutes will not only be beneficial to students but also contribute in growth of the economy as a whole.”
Attended the 1st Foundation Day Function of Maharashtra National Law University, Mumbai with Minister @TawdeVinod ji pic.twitter.com/pEYJuCQKK9
— Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) October 10, 2015
Proud to be a part of 1st Foundation Day Celebrations of Maharashtra Law University. pic.twitter.com/7dMPkGuaqI
— Vinod Tawde (@TawdeVinod) October 10, 2015