UGC in caste discrimination pickle

GAZETTE notifications issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC), the statutory body that oversees higher education in India, usually don't attract much public attention.

- T K VINEETH @ KOCHI

However, a recent one announcing updates to its 2012 anti-discrimination framework to make it more stringent has triggered a nationwide controversy and invited sharp comments from parents, students, politicians, and even the Supreme Court, which stayed it.

While the updates were meant to give teeth to the existing mechanism to effectively check discrimination on campuses by promoting equity, the vague language of the regulation and its exclusivity evoked protests and raised questions about the motive behind the move. Critics pointed out that the new regulation was inherently biased against upper caste members as the general category was left out of its ambit. Instead of protecting the marginalised groups, they claimed, the new rules could end up creating caste divisions, hatred, and unwarranted tension on campuses.

The new framework aimed to replace the mechanism introduced in 2012 to check discrimination in higher education institutions. Its rules tightened the prevailing provisions and mandated universities to protect historically disadvantaged groups such as scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and other socially and educationally backward classes. The regulations also expanded the definition of caste-based discrimination to include OBCs and, in a controversial move, removed a proposed provision to punish those who file false complaints.

The Supreme Court is now seized of the matter and has stayed the new regulation till March 19, when the issue will be taken up in detail. While ordering a stay, the court orally remarked that the manner in which the law was drafted could create confusion and unrest among students. For the time being, the existing rules notified in 2012 will hold, the court ruled.

Need for a new regulation