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Opposition against the University Grants Commission (UGC)’s caller regulations connected the promotion of equity successful higher acquisition campuses intensified connected Monday (January 26, 2026), with critics questioning the 2026 rules’ explanation of “caste-based discrimination” and alleging bias against “general category” students successful not providing for measures against “false complaints”.
A writ petition challenging the University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity successful Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026 has been filed successful the Supreme Court by Mrityunjay Tiwari, a post-doctoral researcher astatine the Banaras Hindu University, Uttar Pradesh. His advocate, Neeraj Singh, told The Hindu, “We are trying to notation the substance successful tribunal time (Tuesday).”
Political absorption to the regulations has besides grown. Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi took to societal media, calling for the regulations to beryllium “withdrawn oregon amended arsenic necessary”. She asked whether the provisions should not beryllium “inclusive and guarantee adjacent extortion for everyone,” adding, “Then wherefore is this favoritism successful the implementation of the law? What happens successful lawsuit of mendacious accusations? How volition guilt beryllium determined? How should favoritism beryllium defined—through words, actions, oregon perceptions?”
Uttar Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party MLC Devendra Pratap Singh has written to the UGC, saying it should beryllium acrophobic with protecting favoritism against Dalits and backward people students, and not with “making wide class students consciousness unsafe. “The framed regulations could widen the caste-centric part and disturb the societal balance,” helium wrote successful the letter, adding that equity is necessary, but it should not marginalise immoderate conception of students.
Student bodies person besides joined the opposition. The students’ national of Kumaun University successful Uttarakhand’s Nainital has submitted a missive to the UGC, saying that the regulations went against the “principle of earthy justice”. In their letter, submitted done the Vice-Chancellor of the University, the students’ national said that these regulations whitethorn disturb the “balance” astatine assemblage campuses and could make an ambiance of “fear and distrust”, perchance starring to the regulations’ “misuse”.
Amid increasing criticism, BJP MP from Jharkhand Nishikant Dubey said connected societal media that “all misconceptions” astir the caller regulations would soon beryllium addressed, adding that it was the PM Narendra Modi-led Government that introduced a 10% preservation for economically weaker sections (EWS) among “poor Savarnas”. He said, “As agelong arsenic Modi ji is there, nary harm volition travel to the children of the precocious castes.”
The UGC notified the 2026 regulations connected January 13, updating its 2012 regulations connected the aforesaid subject. The revised rules defined “caste-based discrimination” arsenic favoritism “only connected the ground of caste oregon tribe” against members of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes, further removing a proviso for punishments for mendacious complaints, which was contiguous successful a draught circulated successful 2025.
These are among the main issues that opponents of the regulations person cited, arguing that the explanation excludes students from the wide category. They besides said that this would make a presumption of guilt against them.
However, adjacent arsenic the uproar against the regulations gathered steam, immoderate anti-caste activists person argued that the caller regulations did not support the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, and Other Backward Classes powerfully capable from the favoritism they face.
Nethrapal, a serving IRS officer, articulated this presumption successful a thread connected “X”, saying that the 2026 regulations are missing circumstantial forms of favoritism that SC, ST, and OBC students look during circumstantial higher acquisition processes similar admissions, interviews and oral examinations. He besides alleged that omnibus equity committees would not beryllium capable to code circumstantial discriminations faced by SC/ST students sufficiently.
In the Supreme Court petition filed by Mr. Tiwari, however, helium has argued that this explanation operated connected an “untenable presumption” that caste-based favoritism was unidirectional, adding that “by plan and operation” the explanation “accords ineligible designation of victimhood” to “certain reserved categories” by excluding wide oregon precocious castes from being protected from the “discrimination suffered by them”.
Meanwhile, Bareilly City Magistrate Alank Agnihotri, a 2019-batch Provincial Services Officer, resigned connected Monday (January 26, 2026), citing his dissatisfaction with the UGC regulations, adjacent arsenic astir a twelve section BJP members successful Lucknow submitted their resignations from the enactment implicit it.
