Centre tells Supreme Court it may set up a panel to review UGC equity on campus regulations

You don’t have any Active Subscription.

Subscribed with another email? Logout and Login with that one.

Your active subscription(s)

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription

Products you've access to

Additional Subscription Benefits

Need help with your subscription?

Updated - November 06, 2026 12:02 am IST - New Delhi

The UGC notified the 2026 Regulations in January after consultations, superseding the 2012 framework. File. | Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma

The Union government is “contemplating” having a special committee review the University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026, it said in a submission to the Supreme Court on Thursday (November 5, 2026).

The Regulations were intended to fight discrimination within educational campuses, but had triggered protests by upper caste students claiming that the rules were one-sided.

In a brief hearing before a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, for the government, sought more time to come back with a comprehensive response, but added that the Centre was examining criticism about the 2026 Regulations.

“The government is contemplating a special committee to relook the UGC Regulations,” Mr. Mehta submitted.

In January 2026, the top court had stayed the Regulations, finding them “too sweeping” and vague. It had ordered that the University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2012, would continue to be in force.

The Court had further issued notice to the government and the University Grants Commission (UGC) on separate petitions challenging Regulation 3(c) of the 2026 Regulations. These petitions had argued that the provision defined ‘caste-based discrimination’ in a narrow manner, limiting its ambit only to prejudice shown against members of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes.

The stimulus behind the 2026 Regulations was a petition filed jointly by the mothers of Rohith Vemula and Payal Tadvi in the Supreme Court against “rampant” caste discrimination in higher education institutions. Vemula, a PhD scholar at Hyderabad Central University, and Tadvi, a tribal student of the TN Topiwala National Medical College, died by suicide in January 2016 and May 2019, respectively, after being subject to on-campus caste bias.

Senior advocate Indira Jaising and advocate Prasanna S., appearing for both mothers, had intervened against the Court’s January stay order. They had argued that keeping the Regulations in abeyance was akin to “calling a fully-abled person disabled”.

They had submitted that the 2026 Regulations addressed the real problem of discrimination against students from Dalit and historically-oppressed castes within higher education institutions.

Published - November 05, 2026 07:35 pm IST

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.