Mumbai University to give out scholarships from ‘rent’ money

Two decades after a good Samaritan donated Mumbai University a flat to use for providing scholarships to students, the varsity will put the property to good use.

The flat’s owner, Saudamini Pantavaidya, passed away in 1995, leaving her 800 sq.ft flat to the university. The flat was located in a 2-storey building at Dadar Parsi Colony.

While Saudamini did not indicate why she was leaving her property to the university, her will mentions that the flat could either be sold or rented. It also stated that the money acquired from the sale or renting of the flat be used to provide scholarship to the most promising students from the engineering stream.

Surprising, despite owning the property for over two decades, the university did not put it to use. However, that’s about the change now.

Back in 2006, the building went into redevelopment after the residents finalized a developer and negotiated the terms. The new building is now ready and the residents have been allotted flats measuring 950 sq.ft. The varsity recently got possession and completed the registration formalities.

According to Hansal Mehta, a real estate agent, the flat can fetch the university anywhere between Rs 5 to 5.5 crore if sold. If rented, it can fetch between Rs 1 and 1.25 lakh in rent per month.

When contacted, an official from the Chancellor’s office of Mumbai University confirmed that flat will be rented as soon as possible and the scholarship will be declared after the rent amount is finalized.