UGC gets 6 weeks for anti-discrimination regulation

The Supreme Court on Friday directed the University Grants Commission (UGC) to notify within six weeks new regulations to combat caste-based discrimination and suicides in higher education institutions, clarifying that the fresh norms cannot be a mere "ream of white paper" but must be effective.

- Utkarsh Anand

NEW DELHI:

Stressing the critical nature of the issue, a bench comprising justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan emphasised that these regulations must be more than symbolic gestures, asserting that the court would scrutinise their practical effectiveness.

"This is a sensitive issue, and we must find an effective solution," observed the bench, pulling up UGC for not being able to finalise the regulations since 2023 when it started drafting the new norms.

"The counsel for UGC informs this court that pursuant to recommendations of a committee, a set of new regulations have been drafted. Let UGC notify the regulations and adduce them before this court for our consideration," ordered the bench.

The directive came during the hearing of a petition filed by Radhika Vemula and Abeda Salim Tadvi, mothers of Rohith Vemula and Payal Tadvi, who died by suicide in 2016 due to alleged caste discrimination. The 2019 petition urged the court to enforce robust anti-discrimination mechanisms across higher education institutions, citing failures in the implementation of UGC's 2012 equity regulations.