The decision was announced by Chief Minister Narayan Rane at a press conference in Mantralaya on Tuesday. According to Rane, the colleges would start functioning during the current academic year. ``There had been about five to six proposals from Ahmednagar district for starting private agricultural colleges. They had also demanded affiliation to the state agricultural university. The cabinet today decided to allow setting up private agro colleges and there will be no financial aid from the government,'' said Rane.

It was also decided to provide free education to women in the agricultural colleges, Rane said. Women will also get free hostel facilities from the current academic year, he added. The government will provide an additional grant of Rs 30 lakh to the colleges for the purpose, he said.

There are a total 2,100 seats in the four agricultural colleges in the State and30 per cent of the same have been reserved for women.

Sindhudurg tourism: The State cabinet decided to set up a separate corporation for promoting tourism in Sindhudurg district, the only one in the country to be announced as a tourism district.

The government will invest Rs 1 crore as initial share capital towards setting up the corporation, Rane said, adding that employees of the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) will be sent to the new corporation on deputation.

The new corporation will act as the nodal agency for implementation of all tourism promotion schemes launched by the the State as well as the Union government, the Chief Minister said. He added that the government expected to earn over Rs 500 crore annually through tourism in Sindhudurg district.

New CBI courts: The State cabinet on Tuesday approved setting up three special courts for trial of cases filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The decision comes following a CBI proposal to the Staterequesting that special courts be set up to speed up hearing in the pending cases. About 300 cases are pending so far, Rane said. He added that three sessions judges and 15 others will be appointed at the earliest for the courts.