There are no aberrations. But if there is some policy that we have to rectify, we will do it, if the government points it out. We ensure that students will not get affected -- Dr Padmanabhan We wonder if we would get university certificates if our college loses deemed university status

VIOLENCE broke out on the campuses of Saveetha and Meenakshi universities -- which are among the 44 deemed universities on the Union HRD ministry's blacklist -- in the city on Tuesday, with students ransacking classrooms and protesting poor infrastructure. Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences witnessed students breaking windows and burning furniture as they shouted slogans against the institution, prompting the police to enter the campus at Thandalam.

"When we joined, we were shown a building with good infrastructure and were told that we would study there. But now, we are made to sit in a construction site and attend classes," said a student. "We pay Rs 1 lakh a year but we are not given any proper facility. Every time we ask for a better building, the authorities say we would soon shift to better classroom. But so far it not happened," complained another student. Meenakshi University too witnessed similar scenes with the students alleging that they were forcibly sent out of the college by a few men from outside, brought in by the institution's authorities. "We wonder if we would get uni- versity certificates if our college loses deemed university status and gets affiliated to another university, as there are 120 students in each de- partment, while Anna University recommends only 50 to 60 students in a department," said a student, adding that the university has to now act fast to retain the deemed university status. Besides clearing the students from the campus, both the police and the institution's au- thorities forcefully evacuated hostellers. "They don't care where we go but they want us to vacate immediately. We don't even have local guardians and we don't know where we will go," said an engineering girl student. These universities have been closed for at least a week.

Authorities of other blacklisted institutions denied the students' claims and asserted that they comply with all norms for a deemed university.  "There are no aberrations. But if there is some policy that we have to rectify, we will do it, if the government points it out. We ensure that students will not get affected," said Dr Padmanabhan, Vice Chancellor of Dr MGR Educational and Research Institute, adding that their institution has so far not received any formal information from the State about derecognition.

Meanwhile, Anna University Vice-Chancellor Mannar Jawahar said the students would not be affected if these institutions lose their deemed university status.