These words of Jawaharlal Nehru embody in them the guiding principle of Pune University. Established in 1948, the University has since become one of the leading centres for research and teaching in the country. The 400 acre campus is located in the North Western part of Pune. The placid environs and state of the art facilities provide it's numerous students with an ideal atmosphere to pursue research in various areas of Science, Arts, Commerce and Languages. The University houses 40 departments which provide a wide array of academic programs. Though a young centre, the University has made a significant impact in various areas of research and teaching, and continues to strive for excellence.

The University of Pune (formerly known as University of Poona) was established under the Poona University Act, passed by the Bombay Legislature on 10th February, 1948. In the same year, Dr. M. R. Jayakar assumed office as the first vice chancellor of the University.

Shri B.G.Kher, Chief Minister and Education Minister, Govt. of Bombay, took a keen interest in setting apart a beautiful campus for the University. As a result of his efforts, a campus extending over 411 acres was allocated to the University in early 1950.

Initially the University had a jurisdiction extending over 12 districts of Western Maharashtra. However, with the establishment of the Shivaji University, Kolhapur, in 1964, the jurisdiction of the University was restricted to 5 districts, namely Pune, Ahmednagar, Nasik, Dhule and Jalgaon. Out of these, two districts - Dhule and Jalgaon are attached to the North Maharashtra University established in August 1990.

During the year 1949, there were only 18 colleges affiliated to the University, with an enrollment of over 8000 students. Thereafter, the number of colleges increased, and in 1994-95, the University had 41 post-graduate departments, 209 affiliated colleges and 118 recognized research institutions, with an enrollment of 1,70,000 students for both the under-graduate and post-graduate courses in different faculties.

70 research institutions have been recognized by the University for research. These include institutions of national importance like the National Chemical Laboratory (NCL), MACS, CWPRS, NIV, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Deccan College among others.

Since its inception, the progress of the University of Pune has been inextricably linked with the efforts of an illustrious list of Vice-Chancellors

The goal of independence was achieved in india through a prolonged struggle and owing to endeavours replete with far sightedness, fastiidiousness and fair mindedness of the stewards in all spheres today we can proudly say India is what the world aspires to be! In the history of mankind, education has formed a continuum and a basis for the development of human society. Through development of attitudes, values, capabilities both of knowledge and skills, education provides strength and resilience to people to respond to changing situations and enables them to a cause and contribute to social development. History has established beyond doubt the crucial role played by human resources in the development of nations and the development of human resources is the main function of education. After independence education is expected to play vital role in the process of achieving the multiple but inter-dependent goals of personal, economic, cultural and social development. The experience accumulated about the modalities availed of in the process of achieving goals of education shows that the concept of education itself has changed. It is no more confined to formal structures and institutions. The dynamics of the expansion of knowledge has led to the concept of life-long learning for the individual and the evolution of institutions of continuing education and the commitment of education for all necessitates establishment of open universities based on distance learning principle. This university named after the architect of modern maharashtra late shri yashwantrao chavan is moving along the path shown by him to reach the unreached on the same principle. Friends, today change has become the watchword for successful living and education is recognized as the instrument for ushering in changes in orderly manner. Therefore, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Independence Day let us resolve to make concerted efforts to usher in the changes required and in the manner desired

Organise Faculty Development Training Programs e.g. content updating trainings, soft skills trainings, industrial trainings and management trainings, hands on skills trainings for polytechnic teachers.

Grant equivalence to the programmes offered by autonomous polytechnics & other organisations.

Conduct examinations, declare results and award certificates.
Recommend opening of Diploma level vocational Institutions, variation in intake capacity and closure of the institutions.
Felicitate the State level rank holders and award certificates of Merit.
Prescribe standards for curriculum, infrastructure and other resources
Generate question papers through Question Banks.
Design and develop curriculae of need based Diploma programmes.
Develop Lab Manuals, CAI Packages, Text books and other Learning resource packages for effective teaching learning process.
Revise the curriculae of the existing programmes periodically on scientific basis by conducting search conferences, studying technological advancements, latest market requirements, job analysis etc.
Undertake controlled academic autonomy projects of the Polytechnics outside Maharashtra State.
Undertake external projects, consultancy and other assignments related to examination system and vocational education.
Organise Career Fairs to promote vocational education especially in remote places.
Organise MSBVE State level vocational competitions e.g. Students Paper Presentation, Vocational Quiz etc.
Issue Scholarships to the needy and meritorious students.
Conducts Online MSCIT Examinations.

Apart from teaching and research, extension and training form the mainstay of its academic activities. It also acts as a national resource centre; and more importantly, functions as an apex body to promote and maintain standards of distance education. The University has its presence in 32 countries. The Commonwealth of Learning has recognised it as one of its centres of excellence. It also has the unique privilege of hosting the Secretariats of SAARC Consortium of Open Distance Learning (SACODIL) approved by Heads of Govts. of SAARC Nations and Global Mega Universities Network (GMUNET) initially promoted by UNESCO.The vision statement of the university reads as:

Indira Gandhi National Open University, the National Resource Centre for Open and Distance Learning with international recognition and presence, shall provide seamless access to sustainable and learner-centric quality education, skill upgradation and training to all by using innovative technologies and methodologies and ensuring convergence of existing systems for massive human resource required for promoting integrated national development and global understanding.

In order to fulfill the vision of democratising higher education and providing access to all segments of people, the University

VISION
To ensure that the Diploma level Vocational Education constantly matches the latest requirements of Technology and industry and includes the all-round personal development of students including social concerns and to become globally competitive, technology led organization.

MISSION
To provide high quality vocational and managerial manpower, information and consultancy services to the industry and community to enable the industry and community to face the changing technological & environmental challenges.

Rigorous Course Development
The procedures adopted for development of various multiple-media learning packages are aimed at maintaining the quality of learning. The University follows a rigorous course design and development procedure, based on the principles of good practices in curriculum development and instructional design. IGNOU utilises the expertise available in-house and with international, national institutions and non-government organisations in the team-approach. Our remarkable success in collaborating with Open Universities in the SAARC region and international organisations like Commonwealth of Learning, World Bank, World Intellectual Property Organisation, World Health Office, various Ministries, reputed research institutes and NGO's has helped us to develop niche market oriented areas such as Post Graduate Diploma in Environment and Sustainable Development, Intellectual Property Rights, Community Cardiology, Ophthalmology, Hospitality, Integrated Doctoral Programmes in Physics and Mathematics, HIV/AIDS, Disaster Management, Public Policy, Human Rights, Nautical Sciences, Power Distribution Management, Construction Workers, Rural Artisans, Motor Mechanics, Gandhi and Contemporary World etc.