Abeda Tadvi and Radhika Vemula filed the petition seeking accountability and adequate mechanisms to deal with caste-based discrimination in university spaces. The Supreme Court, while hearing the matter in July last year, had called the issue “serious” and “sensitive”. Following this, the UGC set up a nine-member expert committee to revisit its regulations and schemes available for students belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other marginalised communities. Since then, the committee has met at least three times.
Although the UGC introduced the Equity Regulations with the intention to address complaints of caste-based discrimination on campus, the regulations have not proven to be effective or sufficient, the petitioners point out. “They do not provide for an independent mechanism of grievance redressal since the Anti-Discrimination Officer under the regulations and the appellate authority, are the Professor/Associate Professor and the head of the institution respectively,” the petition states.
Another major drawback of the Equity Regulations is that it doesn’t apply to faculty members and other employees belonging to SC and ST communities. The regulations also don’t protect victims of discrimination from the hostile environment arising out of their complaints. The petition raises these issues, but the UGC, in its affidavit, has failed to offer any solution.
07/02/2024