New University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations notified on Tuesday mandate all higher education institutions to form ‘equity committees’ to look into discrimination complaints. According to the new UGC regulations — the University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026 — the committees need to include members of Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), persons with disabilities, and women.
A draft of the regulations was made public for feedback in February last year. The draft was issued after the Supreme Court told the UGC to submit the new regulations while hearing a plea by the mothers of Rohith Vemula and Payal Tadvi, questioning the implementation of 2012 UGC regulations. Vemula and Tadvi had died by suicide in 2016 and 2019, respectively, allegedly due to caste bias.
The final regulations have done away with a section on ‘false complaints’, which, along with provision for fine or disciplinary proceedings, was there in the draft.
Students and groups had raised objections about sections of the draft, including the definition of ‘discrimination’ having left out parts that the 2012 version had, including discrimination based on language and ethnicity. The All India OBC Students Association had also flagged the exclusion of OBCs in the equity committees and in the definition of ‘caste discrimination’ in the draft.
The regulations notified on Tuesday have OBCs added to the definition. The 2012 regulations also defined ‘harassment’ and ‘victimisation’, which were removed in the draft, and have also not found a place in the notified regulations.
The earlier regulations provided for ‘Equal Opportunity Cells’ to be set up at higher education institutions, but did not specify their composition and functions.
Once an incident of discrimination is reported, the regulations say, the equity committee is to meet within 24 hours to take action and submit its report to the head of the institutions within 15 working days. The regulations state that the head of the institution shall initiate further action within seven days – this time frame had not been specified in the draft.
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The regulations also task the equity committee with protecting “an aggrieved person, who has reported any incident of discrimination, against retaliation”, and preparing and disseminating “an illustrative list of acts that shall be construed as discrimination”.
Institutions will also have an ‘equity helpline’ and ‘equity squads’ to maintain “vigil” and “prevent any kind of discrimination on campus”.
It also provides for the UGC to constitute a national-level monitoring committee which will oversee the implementation of the regulations, and “look into the issues of discrimination and suggest means of its prevention”.
If an institution does not comply with the regulations, the UGC can debar it from participating in the commission’s schemes, including eligibility to receive central grants.
