New Delhi, Aug 16 (IANS): The government is planning to cap the number of colleges that can be affiliated to a university to maintain proper academic standards.

A proposal on this has been submitted by the Rashtriya Uchattar Shiksha Abhiyan (national higher education campaign) to the human resource development ministry, an official release said here Friday.

The scheme proposes not more than 200 colleges to be affiliated to a university.

The release said the average number of affiliated colleges per university is 300.

"This phenomenon negatively affects the academic quality of the university. It is imperative that states create more universities," the release said.

While Osmania University in Hyderabad has 901 colleges affiliated to it, 811 colleges are attached to Pune University.

Rajasthan and Mumbai universities have 735 and 711 colleges attached to them.

The Rashtriya Uchattar Shiksha Abhiyan is a new centrally-sponsored flagship umbrella scheme of the government aimed at providing strategic funding to higher and technical institutions in the states.