2026 UGC equity rules: Cracks on campus

On a crisp January morning, 22-year-old Amit Mishra from Ballia, a first-year pupil astatine Lucknow University, marched from the module of instrumentality to gross fig 3 of the field — a 3-kilometre-walk. He was joined by 60 others. The banners they carried did not carnivore logos of governmental parties oregon pupil unions oregon associations.

The students had travel unneurotic to protestation the 2026 regulations of the University Grants Commission (UGC), a statutory assemblage that regulates higher acquisition successful India. Called the Promotion of Equity successful Higher Education Institutions Regulations, 2026, these rules were introduced chiefly to code caste favoritism connected campuses crossed the country.

Stay the people | On the UGC’s Promotion of Equity successful Higher Education Institutions rules

As protests astatine the assemblage picked up, demonstrations against the UGC’s caller regulations intensified — not lone successful parts of Uttar Pradesh, but successful Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttarakhand arsenic well. Claiming that the regulations would “divide” campuses on caste lines and “villainise wide class students,” the agitators demanded that they beryllium rolled backmost immediately.

“We cannot licence the aboriginal of our upcoming generations to beryllium jeopardised,” Mishra said.

What the caller regulations say

The 2026 UGC regulations, notified successful aboriginal January, replaced the mentation successful effect since 2012. In the caller regulations, the UGC, for the archetypal time, introduced the word ‘caste-based discrimination,’ defining it arsenic favoritism connected the ground of lone caste oregon people against members of “Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs)”. This was besides the archetypal clip that the UGC was explicitly protecting OBC students from caste discrimination. The practice of OBC students connected campuses has been rising ever since reservations for the class were introduced successful higher acquisition successful 2006 and operationalised successful the consequent years.

The UGC introduced this term, on with stricter provisions for grievance redressal mechanisms and organization accountability, to code concerns that the erstwhile regulations had been inadequate. In 2019, the mothers of Rohith Vemula and Payal Tadvi — students from marginalised caste and tribal backgrounds, who had died by termination successful 2016 and 2019, respectively, alleging caste favoritism — had approached the Supreme Court. They had emphasised that it was indispensable to revisit the 2012 regulations.

After 7 years of hearings successful the Supreme Court, the UGC notified the caller regulations connected January 13, 2026. Immediately, protests broke out. Students belonging to the wide class principally took contented with the explanation of ‘caste-based discrimination’ and the removal, from the last draft, of provisions to enactment against complaints believed to beryllium false. They argued that the UGC’s explanation of caste-based favoritism made wide who could beryllium a imaginable victim. This, they claimed, discriminated against “general category” oregon “upper caste” students by leaving them retired of its scope. Several leaders from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) besides opposed the regulations.

Petitions were filed successful the Supreme Court of India, challenging these aspects of the 2026 regulations. On the 16th time of the agitation, a Bench led by the Chief Justice of India, Justice Surya Kant, stayed the regulations, calling for the UGC to revert to the 2012 rules.

But by this time, the regulations and the sermon astir them had already exposed a ace wrong campuses on caste lines. Widening for implicit a decade, this ace simply culminated successful a flashpoint this January.

Rising anger

One morning, extracurricular the Delhi University (DU) Arts Faculty gathering successful northbound Delhi, students shouted, “Tum jaativad se todoge, hum rashtravad se jodenge (You interruption america with casteism, we volition unite america done nationalism)”. With much than a twelve officers of the Delhi Police keeping ticker from crossed the road, students, mostly men studying law, began gathering astatine the gate. One of them held up a transcript of the caller regulations, explaining wherefore these should beryllium protested.

Naveen Pandey, a third-year LLB pupil astatine DU’s Law Centre 1, pointed to the explanation of caste-based favoritism successful a transcript of the caller regulations. “Does the UGC mean to accidental that caste favoritism is ever going to beryllium committed by wide class students,” helium asked. “Are they saying that wide class students bash not look caste discrimination?”

Another pupil said, “This volition lone make further part connected campus. Reading this, students from the wide class whitethorn bent retired lone with different students from the aforesaid category, fearing mendacious complaints.”

In beforehand of Lucknow University’s Vivekananda Dwar, 489 km away, Mishra said, “These regulations let swift enactment against accused students without capable safeguards. Our interest is not with acting against genuine offenders; it is that successful the lack of provisions, those making mendacious allegations volition not beryllium penalised.”

Vishal Singh, a sociology pupil astatine Lucknow University, added, “As per the regulations, a expected victim’s individuality volition beryllium kept confidential if requested. This is simply a large loophole. It volition beryllium exploited by divisive elements connected campus. It is against the conception of earthy justice.”

In beforehand of DU too, protesters argued that the secrecy of the complainant’s individuality would forestall them from defending themselves.

Students agitating against the regulations successful Delhi, Lucknow, Varanasi, Allahabad, Gorakhpur, and Meerut said that the protests began to instrumentality signifier aft solidarity groups emerged connected societal media platforms, including WhatsApp, Instagram, and X, wherever a “simple gist of the loopholes successful the UGC regulations and their apt adverse consequences” were shared.

Outside the DU’s Arts Faculty gate, Pandey pointed to 1 specified chat group. “We near entree to the radical unfastened truthful that students from each walks of beingness could articulation the protests,” helium said. “But fto maine amusement you what happened wrong hours of mounting it up.” He scrolled done the chat till helium arrived astatine 1 message. It read, “Jisko UGC se appati ho, vo gurukul taraf chale jaye. Wahan toh Dronacharya ji hain (Whoever has an contented with UGC tin conscionable spell to a gurukul, oregon accepted Indian residential acquisition system. There you volition besides find a Dronacharya).”

Pandey looked up. “What would you telephone this,” helium asked. “Is this not caste favoritism against those of the wide class and precocious castes?”

The connection referred to the gurukul tally by Dronacharya, a maestro archer and teacher of warcraft, successful the Hindu epic, Mahabharata. Dronacharya was precluded from teaching anyone but the royal Kshatriyas of the kingdom of Hastinapur. The work forced him to garbage grooming to Eklavya, who belonged to a caste considered little than the Kshatriyas.

He past scrolled further till helium recovered different message, by a chap pupil of the instrumentality centre, mocking the reservations for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), introduced successful 2019 by the Union government. Pandey said, “They telephone it the Sudama quota and marque amusive of america by calling america ‘Sudama quota wale’. [Sudama, a mediocre Brahmin, is known arsenic Lord Krishna’s puerility person successful the Mahabharata.] Can we record a ailment against this nether ‘caste-based discrimination’?”

In 1 of the petitions filed earlier the Supreme Court challenging the 2026 regulations, Mrityunjay Tiwari, a post-doctoral researcher astatine the Banaras Hindu University, has cited slogans and graffiti successful higher acquisition institutions arsenic signs of caste favoritism against wide class students oregon precocious castes. The petition referred to slogans specified arsenic ‘Brahmins permission the campus’ being graffitied successful December 2022 connected a partition wrong Jawaharlal Nehru University, and ‘Brahmin-Baniyawad Murdabad (Down with Brahminism-Baniyawad)’ being raised astatine Ashoka University successful Haryana successful 2024.

It besides recalled chants by the Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students’ Association successful Jawaharlal Nehru University past year, echoing the Mandal-era slogan “tilak-taraazu-aur talwar, inko maaro joote chaar” — which means that the vermilion people representing Brahmins, the equilibrium scales representing the Baniyas oregon trading community, and the sword representing the Kshatriyas oregon warrior people should beryllium deed with shoes.

“I tin committedness you that the students chanting these slogans bash not recognize the quality betwixt Brahmanwad (Brahminism) and Brahmins,” Pandey said, asserting that determination is lone 1 mode of perceiving these slogans — hostility towards precocious caste people. “How volition these regulations assistance america study these complaints arsenic caste-based discrimination?”

Neha Upadhyay, a archetypal twelvemonth LLB pupil astatine DU, who was among the fewer women astatine the protest, added that these caller regulations “are further dividing the field into caste categories”. Explaining wherefore she was astatine the protest, Upadhyay pointed to an incidental she had seen connected societal media. “In Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), a reserved class pupil complained of caste favoritism erstwhile a wide class pistillate helium had asked retired connected a day rejected him. How is this okay,” she asked.

On January 29, the SRCC enactment retired a nationalist statement. Acknowledging the rumours circulating connected societal media, it clarified that “no specified alleged act/incident has been reported successful the college”.

Being ‘casteist’

While the protests item the disagreement betwixt the reserved and unreserved categories, this rift has been shaping experiences of students crossed higher acquisition campuses for a fewer decades now. The decease of Vemula successful 2016 accelerated the enactment and activism of pupil groups specified arsenic the Ambedkar Periyar Phule Student Circle, which advocator for stricter implementation of the 2012 anti-discrimination guidelines.

Even arsenic Dalit, Bahujan, and Adivasi students narrated their lived experiences of caste favoritism — manifested successful derision towards reserved categories, caste-based questioning, and “casteist” remarks passed disconnected arsenic “ice-breakers” — those from the unreserved category, oregon students from the wide class oregon precocious castes, said that it is they who are facing favoritism connected campuses.

A 2019-20 pupil survey conducted among astir 550 undergraduate students successful the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, had recovered that 11% of respondents crossed the SC, ST, OBC, and wide categories reported knowing professors oregon administrative unit who had made casteist remarks. The survey added that 6% of wide class respondents, 9% of OBC respondents, and 26% of SC and ST respondents had reported this.

Also Read: Why UGC’s NEP-driven higher acquisition reforms are faltering connected campus

Observing the protesters chanting slogans extracurricular the DU campus, Aniket Gautam, a postgraduate pupil astatine the governmental subject department, said, “I travel from an SC background. I entered DU with a people of implicit 80%. I retrieve the remarks I had received for ‘gobbling up a seat’ due to the fact that I had availed myself of the reservation. Some radical adjacent said they wished they could get SC certificates to participate assemblage campuses.”

Gautam, who is associated with the Students’ Federation of India, a Left-affiliated outfit, added, “If they privation to statement these casteist remarks ‘banter,’ should we besides accidental that referring to a ‘Sudama quota’ is banter? How is the EWS quota thing but a preservation for precocious castes?”

Yet, a fewer twelve metres away, Pandey asked, “With these caller regulations successful place, would we ever beryllium capable to person escaped and antiauthoritarian governmental discourse? We are terrified of what volition hap erstwhile universities similar DU clasp pupil national elections. Will allegations made by immoderate wide students successful the vigor of campaigning beryllium understood arsenic caste discrimination?”

Drawing comparisons

While the agitation mostly centred connected the assertion that the 2026 regulations disagreement campuses, immoderate protesting students person besides called for explicit practice of the wide class successful the monitoring and accountability mechanisms that the UGC plans to found arsenic portion of the regulations.

However, largely, the protesting students said that the 2012 regulations are amended than the 2026 ones. Other sections of nine besides judge this, though for the other reason: they reason that the caller regulations person diluted the explanation of ‘discrimination,’ leaving its determination unfastened to interpretation.

The 2012 regulations had defined ‘discrimination’ and covered varied forms of it, including circumstantial types of favoritism faced by SC and ST students. On the different hand, the 2026 regulations person introduced the word ‘caste-based discrimination’ and shortened the explanation of ‘discrimination’. They person eliminated a sub-section connected the types of discriminations faced by SC and ST students astatine assorted stages of their assemblage education, specified arsenic admissions and interviews.

The 2026 regulations person provided for institutions to acceptable up equity squads and equity committees, calling for just practice successful these mechanisms of SCs, STs, OBCs, number groups, women, and persons with disabilities. The 2012 regulations had provided for the duty of conscionable 1 authoritative arsenic a liaison serviceman connected campuses to show implementation of regulations.

The 2026 regulations besides person stricter accountability measures, prescribing punishments for institutions recovered not pursuing these rules. These see nonaccomplishment of accreditation and being debarred from offering degrees. These provisions were absent successful the 2012 version.

While proceeding petitions seeking the strengthening of the 2012 regulations, the Supreme Court was informed astir the presumption of their implementation, including the constitution of SC/ST Cells and Equal Opportunity Cells (EOCs). According to an affidavit submitted to the Court by the UGC, lone 3,522 higher acquisition institutions retired of much than 50,000 successful India had responded to the regulatory authority’s telephone for reporting. Of these, 3,067 had acceptable up an EOC and 3,273 had acceptable up an SC/ST Cell.

But adjacent arsenic the Court stayed the 2026 regulations, the choler has not subsided. There are calls for a Bharat Bandh, oregon nationwide strike, connected February 1, demanding a afloat rollback of the 2026 regulations. This choler has mostly been directed towards the BJP by precocious caste groups successful parts of northbound India, peculiarly U.P., which is heading towards Assembly elections successful 2027.

As Asad Rizvi, a Lucknow-based governmental observer, noted, “Upper castes are the halfway elector basal of the BJP and the cardinal operator of the party’s occurrence successful the State. Upper caste bureau bearers of the enactment person adjacent resigned from enactment posts successful immoderate districts, expressing displeasure with the UGC regulations. If they deliberation the ruling enactment is not protecting their broader interests, it whitethorn negatively interaction the BJP regime.”