A few days after the government sought to divest 44 varsities of their deemed status, many of them said they were not aware of the move and demanded revaluation. Some said that they were not informed nor were their facilities inspected. Yet others like the National Museum Institute of History, Art, Conservation and Museology in Delhi which has some 100 students and boasts of high flying alumni said they had been a deemed university for the past 21 years and they had not had any communication about this from the Ministry. Amidst all the brouhaha, HRD Minister, Kapil Sibal stood firm about the fact that the concept of deemed universities would be abolished from the country’s education system. Sibal also stressed that no student already enrolled would suffer in the process of de-recognition. Sources say that the government has taken stringent action against deemed universities because many of them are run purely for commercial reasons and their credentials are dubious. The fate of nearly 2 lakh students across the county hangs in the balance with this move. Out of the 44 universities listed for de-recognition, Tamil Nadu has 16, followed by Karnataka with 6, Uttar Pradesh with 4 and Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Haryana with 3. In the meantime the deemed universities have decided to get together to float two lobbies to plead their case. The management of the varsities have called for a review of the Tandon Committee report based on which the central government has recommended the withdrawal of deemed university status given by the University Grants Commission (UGC). In many states, say official sources, a number of deemed varsities are run by figures in politics and/or their relatives making higher education a farce as well as a very lucrative business. In Tamil Nadu alone more than 100,000 engineers are churned out every year. The government feels that not only do these varsities charge exorbitant fees but they lack the basic infrastructure and were being run as “family fiefdoms” rather than institutions of academic excellence. Solicitor General Gopal Subraman-ium, who is appearing for the central government said that the government has decided to let these universities revert to becoming affiliated colleges of their original universities. This move comes to avoid jeopardising the careers of nearly 200,000 students studying in these institutions across 13 states. In the latest step taken to soothe ruffled feathers and send positive signals to the student fraternity, the Supreme Court has asked the government to maintain a status quo till the matter is taken up for further hearing in March. This means that the HRD Ministry’s order hangs in abeyance till further notice. A gasp of relief for the ill-fated varsities and good news for students.