Considering committee to review UGC caste discrimination rules: Centre to SC

The Centre on Thursday (November 5) informed the Supreme Court that it was considering setting up a committee to look into the rules recently notified by the University Grants Commission (UGC) to prevent instances of caste discrimination in educational institutions.

What Centre told SC

Appearing for the Centre, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta conveyed to the bench of Chief Justice of India (C JI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said that the issue was under examination by the Centre which aims to ensure that concerns of students are addressed and no section is left feeling dissatisfied.

Emphasizing the significance of protecting the interests of every student, the bench asked "Why don't you revisit the UGC Regulations?” reported the Bar and Bench.

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"The government has taken a decision that every student should be taken care of. Nobody should have any apprehension. Nobody should feel dissatisfied. We are also considering the interests of the younger generation. The government is contemplating appointing a committee," said Mehta responding to the court’s question.

Supreme Court had kept regulations in abeyance

The development took place during the hearing of batch of petitions challenging the UGC regulations which the top court in January ordered to be kept in abeyance.

The UGC rules titled University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026 (Regulations) were notified in on January 13 and applies to all higher education institution in the country.

Petitioners challenge regulations

The petitioners have challenged the rules before the Supreme Court arguing that they exclude general category students from lodging complaints under grievance redressal mechanism.

They further alleged that the rules deny grievance redressal and institutional protection to students who do not belong to Scheduled Caste /Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) or Other Backward Classes (OBC) categories.

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The petitioners have sought directions to stay the implementation of the rules in their current form along with a declaration that access to grievance redressal mechanism being denied on the line of caste is tantamount to "impermissible State discrimination".

They further alleged that such a framework is selective and encourages hostility against non-reserved categories adding that this makes the regulations a divisive tool.