Students of doomed varsities to be protected, Govt tells SC

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Thursday told the Supreme Court that it plans to take steps against the 44 deemed universities found to be substandard by the review committee appointed by the HRD ministry. At the same time, it assured SC that it would take measures to safeguard interests of nearly 2 lakh students studying in these varsities.

The HRD ministry will issue show-cause notices to these 44 deemed universities, providing each institution an opportunity to explain why they should not be stripped of their deemed status.

“The institutions deemed to be universities which prima facie do not deserve to retain their status as deemed to be universities, as recommended by the review committee, will each be communicated the shortcomings found against them and will be afforded an opportunity to show cause why their declaration as institutions deemed to be universities should not be revoked by the government. After receipt of their reply and due consideration thereof, the government will pass an appropriate order in each case.”

The ministry informed the court that this process would be completed “within a reasonable time frame”. With a new academic session in the offing in June/July, there is likely to be an urgency on part of the ministry to complete this process. Hence, limiting the number of students who would be impacted if the varsities lose their deemed status.

The 44 deemed universities, which had been impleaded in the case, had argued that they were neither given sufficient opportunity nor had the UGC consulted them before taking a decision to strip them of the deemed status. Their argument was that it was the UGC, an autonomous commission, that had granted the deemed status, therefore it alone has the power to de-recognise the varsities.