4 months ago
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For the past 2 years, the Congress-led authorities of Karnataka has moved dilatory connected implementation of the Karnataka Rohith Vemula (Protection of SC/STs from Caste Discrimination successful Higher Educational Institutions) Bill 2025. The authorities was a committedness successful the Congress manifesto for 2024 Lok Sabha polls and Leader of Opposition successful Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had written to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah successful 2025 calling for enacting the instrumentality astatine the earliest.
The statement connected the projected instrumentality has again travel to the forefront aft the Supreme Court of India stayed the University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity successful Higher Education Institutions) Regulations 2026, followed by agitations some for and against the regulations. The Rohith Vemula Act successful Karnataka was expected to beryllium implemented overmuch earlier the UGC regulations, but is connected the backburner.
Mavalli Shankar, State Convenor, Karnataka Dalit Sangharsha Samiti, said the Samiti plans to petition the Chief Minister this week, demanding enactment of the instrumentality successful the upcoming fund league of the Karnataka legislature. “According to UGC statistics, atrocities against SC/ST students connected campuses person accrued by 118.4% successful the past 5 years. These students request due ineligible extortion to prosecute higher acquisition with dignity, and the Rohith Vemula Bill 2025 is simply a solution to this issue. On the 1 hand, UGC regulations person been stayed, and, connected the other, the Congress authorities successful Karnataka is unnecessarily delaying enactment of the Rohith Vemula Act,” helium said.
The statement implicit whether lone SC and ST students should beryllium brought nether its ambit, oregon students from different oppressed communities should besides beryllium included nether the purview of the law, has delayed its enactment, sources said.
Law to absorption connected SC-ST students
After the suicide of Rohith Vemula, a Dalit Ph.D. student astatine Hyderabad Central University, connected January 17, 2016, owed to caste-based discrimination, determination was a clamour from students and parents for implementation of the Rohith Vemula Act to code favoritism against students from SC-ST communities successful higher acquisition institutions.
A draught of the Bill prepared by the Law, Justice and Human Rights Department, Government of Karnataka, projected to safeguard the close to acquisition and dignity of Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), and minorities. It tin beryllium recalled that adjacent the caller UGC Equity Regulations included each 4 communities nether its ambit.
However, this has been opposed by Dalit groups vehemently. There are galore differences betwixt the favoritism faced by OBC and number students, and the favoritism faced by SC/ST students. If necessary, abstracted laws should beryllium enacted to forestall atrocities against OBC and number students, oregon the anti-ragging laws should beryllium further strengthened, they person argued.
In this regard, pro-Dalit organizations led by Minister Priyank Kharge person urged the authorities to instrumentality the Rohith Vemula Act 2025 exclusively for SC and ST students.
“The Rohith Vemula Bill-2025 is inactive nether discussion. The draught has been finalized. There person been galore discussions with stakeholders, including the Campaign for Rohith Act team. We person decided to instrumentality the Act lone for SC/STs. In the meantime, the UGC has included OBCs successful their precocious implemented Act. Therefore, we purpose to guarantee that this law does not go redundant.,” said Dr. M.C. Sudhakar, Higher Education Minister, GoK.
Civil nine draft
A civilian nine group, Campaign for Rohith Act, has submitted a draught of the Rohith Vemula Bill, prepared by ineligible experts and assemblage professors, to the government. It is learnt that the authorities has considered astir of the points successful this measure successful the last draft.
Although respective rounds of discussions were held with Law Minister H.K. Patil, Higher Education Minister Dr. M.C. Sudhakar, Minister Priyank Kharge, and the Campaign for Rohith Act team, and the draught was finalized, the authorities is yet to array it successful the legislature.
Back and forth
The draught Bill has present been sent to the Social Welfare Department for their opinion, pursuing which the authorities volition array the Bill, sources said.
“The draught has been prepared by the Law Department. The Higher Education Department has decided to question the sentiment of the Social Welfare Department connected the draft. The model for SC and STs is with the Social Welfare Department. Therefore, their sentiment is necessary. It whitethorn travel up for treatment during this Budget Session,” Minister Priyank Kharge told The Hindu.
