Educationist and former governor D Y Patil passed away in Maharashtra's Kolhapur on Tuesday at the age of 90. Patil served as Governor of Tripura from 2009 to 2013, Governor of Bihar from 2013 to 2014 and briefly held additional charge as Governor of West Bengal in 2014.
A recipient of the Padma Shri in 1991, he was widely known as the founder of the DY Patil Group, which runs over 180 educational institutions, including deemed universities in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Pune and Kolhapur.
Born on October 22, 1935 in Kolhapur, Patil began his political career as a Maharashtra MLA before moving into education and philanthropy. He later joined the Nationalist Congress Party in 2018, having earlier been associated with the Congress. Details of the funeral are awaited.
Patil’s death marks the end of an era for India’s education sector, where he had transformed access to professional education through an expansive network of institutions spanning medicine, engineering, management, agriculture and allied disciplines.
Born on October 22, 1935, Dr. Patil has dedicated his life to expanding educational opportunities and public service. Through the D. Y. Patil Group, he had established one of the country’s largest private education networks which compromised seven deemed universities, international schools and multi-speciality hospitals that have educated lakhs of students over the decades.
In recognition of his exceptional contribution to education and social welfare, the Government of India had conferred the Padma Shri upon him in 1991.
Over the years, institutions which were founded under his leadership emerged as prominent centres for higher education and healthcare, particularly in Maharashtra, which played a major role in producing professionals across multiple disciplines.
Tributes have been pouring in for Patil from political and educational circles across Maharashtra. Congress leader Dr Nitin Raut wrote on X that education had lost “a visionary architect”, adding that Patil's death was “a huge loss to education, social service and public life" and that his work would "continue to inspire many generations”.
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha also condoled Patil's death, describing him as “an eminent educationist, former Governor of Tripura and Bihar and a visionary institution builder, philanthropist and respected public figure who left an enduring legacy through his immense contributions to education, healthcare and public service”. “May his soul rest in peace. Om Shanti,” he wrote on X.
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