The Academy of Maharashtra Research, Upliftment, and Training (AMRUT), set up in 2019 by the state government to uplift students from the economically weaker sections (EWS) of the open category, is now facing serious criticism for failing to meet its core mandate.
The autonomous institute, envisioned to provide academic, financial, and competitive support to communities including Brahmin, Komti, Sindhi, Rajput, Kayastha, Saraswat, and Rajpurohit, is being accused of chronic mismanagement, poor outreach, and administrative inertia.
Since its inception, AMRUT has spent Rs88.15 crore, yet only a minuscule portion of this funding has reached students directly. It received around Rs63 crore in 2023-24 and Rs65 crore in the subsequent fiscal year (up to December 2024).
Between 2019 and December 2024, AMRUT spent Rs1.55 crore on salaries and administrative costs – just under 2% of its total budget – but allocated an abysmally low Rs6.32 lakh for outreach and advertisements. The result, according to some activists, is a staggering lack of awareness, especially in rural Maharashtra.
“The institute hasn’t produced a basic information booklet,” said Kuldeep Ambekar, founder of the Student Helping Hands, asking why, after five years, the situation remains “so pitiful”. “It has failed to establish even a minimal presence on social media, further compounding its irrelevance among the very demographic it was designed to serve,” Ambekar alleged.
Perhaps the most damning failure lies in AMRUT’s inability to provide any meaningful support for competitive exam preparation; a critical need for students from weaker economic backgrounds who are aiming to crack exams like the UPSC, MPSC, Common Law Admission Test (CLAT), or Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC). Despite announcing coaching support for JEE and NEET, no effective programmes have been launched.
The institute’s disinterest in fostering academic excellence extends to higher education and research. While students from other communities receive support for fellowships and PhD programmes, AMRUT has refused to implement similar schemes. Promises of assistance through loan repayment schemes or support for individual entrepreneurship also remain largely unfulfilled. Instead, the institute appears to focus primarily on self-employment and technical training programmes, which Ambekar describes as “temporary band-aids; not meaningful solutions”.
Critics have also pointed out that AMRUT has become a Pune-centric body, serving primarily the urban population while neglecting outreach to the state’s vast rural hinterland. Although it is listed alongside institutions like the Babasaheb Ambedkar Research and Training Institute (BARTI), Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Research, Training and Human Development Institute (SARTHI), and Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Research and Training Institute (MahaJyoti) in the state’s inclusive policy framework, AMRUT remains isolated and functionally disconnected.
