Mumbai, Dec. 3 -- The state government is preparing to set up a Fine Arts University that will bring together private and government institutions teaching music, dance, drama, visual arts and related disciplines. The Directorate of Arts will soon. submit a formal proposal recommending the creation of a single Fine Arts University, replacing the earlier plan for a separate visual arts university. According to education officials, the proposed university will be modelled on specialised institutions like the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University. Once established, all arts colleges in the state currently affiliated with various public universities will be required to shift their affiliation to the new institution. The demand for an independent art university has been pending for nearly 45 years. More than 150 art colleges and institutions have consistently pushed for a separate visual arts university. After multiple protests in previous years by art students and art college faculty members, the Higher and Technical Education Department had created the Maharashtra State Art Education Board for diploma-level courses and allowed many institutions to affiliate themselves with it. However, the demand for a university remained. To explore the feasibility of creating a visual arts university, the government earlier set up a committee headed by professor Rajnish Kamat, vice-chancellor of Homi Bhabha State University. The committee concluded that establishing a university solely for visual arts would be difficult due to technical constraints. As a result, the government shifted its approach and began exploring a Fine Arts University covering all art disciplines. Higher and technical education minister Chandrakant Patil had received repeated requests from stakeholders for such a university. Acting on these demands, he asked the Directorate of Arts to look into the matter. The directorate then decided to recommend a comprehensive Fine Arts University covering visual arts, fine arts, dance, drama and music. A senior department official said that any institution offering degree programmes in these fields would need to affiliate itself with the proposed university. The idea of a Fine Arts University is not new. In 2008, the then Higher and Technical Education Minister had announced a similar proposal, but it did not move forward. Now, the Art University Establishment Action Committee, led by Shripad Bhalchandra Joshi, has revived the campaign after refusing affiliation with the Arts Board. Officials said the state government will soon form a committee to draft the structure of the proposed university....