On August 9, University of Pune, one of the oldest in the country, was renamed after Savitribai Phule, the pioneer of women’s education in Maharashtra.
At the function held in Pune to rename the 66-year-old varsity as the ‘Savitribai Phule Pune University’, Maharashtra governor K Shankarnarayanan congratulated the state government for taking the “revolutionary” decision.
The governor, who is also the chancellor of the state’s universities, hoped that the premier varsity would stress on vocational training and skill-enhancement along with its regular curriculum.
Savitribai, wife of iconic social reformer Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, joined her husband in opening the first school for girls in Maharashtra in 19th-century Pune. In doing so, she showed exceptional courage and conviction, taking on a hostile and orthodox society where women’s education was taboo.
Among those present on the occasion was NCP chief Sharad Pawar.