SC assures robust mechanismto check caste bias in varsities

The Supreme Court on Friday assured that a “strong and robust” mechanism will be put in place to check the issue of caste-based discrimination in institutions of higher education in the country.

Hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed in 2019 after Rohit Vemula and Payal Tadvi died by suicide due to alleged caste-based discrimination on campuses, the top court decided to wait the outcome of a consultation process initiated by the University Grants Commission (UGC) over its recently-formulated draft on Promotion of Equity in Higher Education institutions Regulations 2025.

“It is extremely unfortunate that such incidents are happening. We have something in mind. We intend to create a strong and robust mechanism to deal with this problem,” a bench headed by justice Surya Kant said.

Appearing for UGC, solicitor general Tushar Mehta said that the commission has brought out the draft regulations and is inviting comments from public or any stakeholders.

The education regulator on February 27 said, “These regulations are designed to foster equity, inclusion, and non-discrimination within Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) across India, in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.”

Mehta told the court that UGC has granted time till March 28 for comments and suggestions on the draft, and requested that the matter be listed after three months.

The bench, also comprising justice N Kotiswar Singh, said, “We will take up the matter after eight weeks and see what progress has been made.”

Senior advocate Indira Jaising, who appeared for the petitioners, Abeda Salim Tadvi and Radhika Vemula, said that it is a matter of concern that there are increasing number of suicides across campuses on account of alleged discrimination faced by students.

“In the last 14 months, there have been a number of suicides in IITs and IIMs. We need to identify the cause behind such suicides,” she said.

In the response, the court said, “Once the UGC comes out with its final regulations, we are contemplating to fix some responsibility. Ultimately, there are violations and non-compliance taking place. It is mostly because of want of sufficient teeth to UGC. If UGC’s hands are strengthened, this can be achieved. We will take this matter to its logical conclusion.”

While Vemula, a PhD scholar at Hyderabad Central University died on January 17, 2016, Tadvi, a student at TN Topiwala National Medical College, died on May 22, 2019, after she was subjected to purported discrimination by three doctors in her college.