SC directs UGC to tighten rules on ragging and caste, gender, disability discrimination in colleges

To prevent student suicides in higher educational institutions across the country, the Supreme Court on Monday asked the UGC to consider — within two months — while making the draft mechanism to effectively combat ragging, sexual harassment, and discrimination on the basis of caste, gender, disability, among other biases.The top court’s two-judge bench, headed by Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, was hearing a batch of PILs filed by the mothers of Rohit Vemula and Payal Tadvi — Radhika Vemula and A Salim Tadvi — assailing caste discrimination in higher educational institutions.The apex court on Monday asked the University Grants Commission (UGC) to consider the suggestions and views of the mothers of students Vemula and Tadvi, who allegedly died by suicide after facing caste-based discrimination in their respective campuses.It is to be noted that Vemula, a PhD scholar at Hyderabad Central University, died on January 17, 2016, while Tadvi, a student at TN Topiwala National Medical College, died on May 22, 2019, after she was subjected to purported discrimination by three doctors in her college.During the hearing on Monday, the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, clarified to the bench that the draft regulations were published and an expert committee examined over 300 objections that were received.Mehta’s submissions were recorded by the bench, as the law officer contended that a lot of effective mechanisms to combat ragging and other issues like caste biases were demarcated.”These include prohibition of discriminatory practices, non-segregation measures like higher educational institutions being prohibited from allocating hostels, classrooms, or practical/laboratory batches based on entrance rank or academic performance, and prohibition of public display of merit lists or rank-based segregation within the campus, and disallowing rank-based buddy systems for academic support, which often exclude students from marginalised backgrounds,” he added.



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