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Source: The post is based on the article “Centre forms expert panel to revise anti-discrimination guidelines on campuses” published in The Hindu on 3rd August 2023.
What is the News?
The Union Education Ministry has constituted an expert committee to revisit its regulations and guidelines on anti-discrimination guidelines in higher educational institutions.
About anti-discrimination guidelines in higher educational institutions:
University Grants Commission (UGC) had in 2012 issued the UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Educational Institutes) Regulations,2012.
This covered all forms of discrimination, provided for liaison officers to check reservation fulfillment and gave mandates for strict grievance redressal cells to address concerns of discrimination.
However, these guidelines have not been fully implemented in several higher educational institutions, including a lot of the Indian Institutes of Technology.
The IIT-Delhi in fact got the mandate for its SC/ST Cell passed only in 2023, providing for a liaison officer and anti-discrimination officers.
Why has the government decided to revisit the anti-discrimination guidelines?
In the last six months, at least half a dozen students from marginalised backgrounds have died of suicide on campuses of IIT-Madras, IIT-Bombay, and IIT-Delhi.
After this, the Supreme Court had then asked the UGC to detail the steps it had taken to address caste discrimination on campuses.
After this, the government formed an expert committee to revisit the UGC regulations/schemes concerning the SC/ST/OBC/PwD and minority communities in Higher Educational Institutions [HEIs] and suggest further remedial measures if required.
