Appoint SC, ST, women reps in student redressal panels: UGC

New Delhi The University Grants Commission (UGC) has made it mandatory to include one member from a marginalised caste or tribe, and one woman, in student grievance redressal committees (SGRC) that are supposed to be constituted by every higher educational institution to deal with student complaints.

The national regulator also reiterated that it is compulsory to include one ombudsman in the committees, which were last notified in 2019 but not uniformly implemented across the country.

The UGC (Redressal of Grievances of Students) Regulations, 2023, which will replace the 2019 guidelines, were notified by the council on April 11. The commission on Thursday asked all higher education institutions (HEIs) to comply with the new norms that seek to address problems faced by students already enrolled in any institution, as well as those seeking admission to such places.

The revised guideline laid down the norms for composition of SGRCs. “At least one member (of the SGRC) or the chairperson shall be a woman and at least one member (of the SGRC) or the chairperson shall be from SC/ST/OBC category,” it said.

The 2019 guidelines had no such stipulation for the five to six-member committees. It had senior professors, dean student welfare, and representatives from students, who were nominated based on academic merit/excellence in sports/performance in co-curricular activities.

The guidelines were notified at a time when a string of student suicides at premier educational institutions, especially at IITs, has triggered a debate on the pressure and problems faced by pupils in these campuses. In particular, the death of a 18-year-old Dalit student at IIT-Bombay in February sparked allegations of caste discrimination, which the institution has refuted. Police later recovered a suicide note from his room and arrested a classmate named in the note.

UGC chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar said that the provision was added to make the SGRCs inclusive. “The changes have been made for a better representation from all categories of students and faculty members, and made the grievance redressal committees more inclusive,” he said.

Kumar said the revised guidelines created accountability for educational institutions in resolving the issues of students in a time-bound manner. “The regulation makes it clear that any violation of the provisions of the regulation in failing to address the grievances of the students will lead to appropriate action by UGC,” he added.

Some experts welcomed the inclusion of representatives from reserved categories but pointed out that other mechanisms – such as the SC/ST Cell, which is also mandatory across campuses – have proven to be half measures in the absence of strong institutional will and several vacancies.

Hansraj Suman, the chairperson of the Delhi University scheduled caste, scheduled tribe and other backward classes teachers association, said, “It will give more confidence to the students facing any kind of caste-based discrimination to reach out to these committees. However, the other mechanisms to address these issues, including SC/ST cells, should also remain in place.”

Kumar agreed. “These regulations do not replace other regulations/guidelines made/issued by the UGC from time to time to ensure that no student is discriminated against on the basis of caste, creed, religion, language, ethnicity, gender or disabilities,” he said.

The new guidelines also retained the provision of appointment of an ombudsman for redressal of grievances of students. The ombudsman shall be a retired vice-chancellor or retired professor with 10 years experience, or a former district judge.

The new guidelines also allow students aggrieved by the decision of SGRC to appeal to the ombudsman within a period of 15 days from the date of receipt of such a decision.