New Delhi: The Union Government has informed the Supreme Court that it will soon prepare a policy to regulate and streamline deemed universities including the criteria for granting the deemed university status.

Hearing a petition filed by advocate Viplav Sharma seeking proper guidelines to prevent the burgeoning of deemed universities, additional solicitor general Vikas Singh made this submission before a bench comprising Justices Dalveer Bhandari and H.S. Bedi.

"Since the petition was filed, over 20 institutions were granted the status of a deemed university irrespective of whether they had adequate infrastructure, faculty and qualified staff", said Counsel, Sanjay Hegde.

The final hearing on the matter will take place on August 25, 2008.

The past few years have seen a significant increase in the number of deemed universities across the country. These institutes bypass all safeguards including approvals from the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), Medical Council of India (MCI) and the state government.