Minister seeks to assuage critics of UGC rules; SC to hear pleas

A simmering row over the University Grants Commission (UGC)'s regulations on equity in educational campuses reached the Supreme Court on Tuesday as upper-caste groups protested against the guidelines that protect marginalised students and Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan assured agitators there would be no discrimination against anyone.

- Utkarsh Anand and Sanjay Maurya

The controversy broke out earlier this month after the higher education regulator updated its 2012 rules on anti-discrimination guidelines, and asked universities, colleges and deemed universities to establish an equal opportunity centre with an equity committee to handle discrimination complaints and promote inclusion.

The regulations-an outcome of an August 2019 Supreme Court petition seeking stronger anti-discrimination safeguards in higher education - have been welcomed by marginalised students. But some upper-caste groups allege that the guidelines are vague and will victimise them.

On Tuesday, Pradhan attempted to assuage upper-caste groups.

"I want to humbly assure everyone (that) no one is going to face any harassment. There will be no discrimination and no one will have the right to misuse the regulation in the name of discrimination," Pradhan said. "Whether the UGC, Union or the state government, they have the responsibility.

I assure it will be within the ambit of the Constitution of India." In the top court, two separate petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the rules are likely to be mentioned before Chief Justice of India Surya Kant later this week for directions on listing and hearing.

The first writ petition has been filed by Mrityunjay Tiwari, a postdoctoral researcher at Banaras Hindu University, Uttar Pradesh, assailing the University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026. A second petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Tuesday by advocate Vineet Jindal, challenging the constitutional validity of Regulation 3(c) of the 2026 regulations.