Supreme Court urges UGC to provide data on caste discrimination complaints in universities – Newz9

New Delhi [India]January 3 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Friday directed the University Grants Commission (UGC) to compile and submit data on caste discrimination complaints obtained beneath its 2012 laws in universities and better academic establishments throughout the nation.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan requested UGC to submit data on what number of Central, state, deemed and personal universities and better academic establishments have arrange Equal Opportunity Cells and the full variety of complaints obtained beneath the UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2012 together with motion taken studies.
It took into consideration the submission of UGC that pursuant to sure suggestions a brand new set of laws has been formulated.
The prime courtroom directed the UGC to notify laws and place the identical on file.
The order was handed on a PIL filed by the moms of Rohit Vemula and Payal Tadvi assaulting caste discrimination in increased academic establishments.
As the bench was knowledgeable that as many as 115 suicides have taken place in IITs alone between 2004 and 2024, it remarked that the courtroom is “cognisant of the sensitivity of the matter” and would start listening to it periodically to discover out a mechanism that might translate the 2012 Regulations right into a actuality.
During the listening to of the case, senior advocate Indira Jaising representing for petitioners contended that UGC failed to implement the 2012 laws which had been meant to put an finish to discrimination primarily based on caste in increased academic establishments.
She requested the bench to search data from the Central authorities and the National Assessment and Accreditation Council – relating to data in regards to the variety of suicides by college students belonging to the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe class in increased academic establishments.
The bench then requested Union and NAAC to file counter-affidavits inside 4 weeks.
Rohit Vemula, a PhD scholar at Hyderabad Central University, died by suicide on January 17, 2016, reportedly due to caste discrimination.
Payal Tadvi, a tribal scholar at Tamil Nadu Topiwala National Medical College in Mumbai additionally died by suicide on May 22, 2019, as she was allegedly subjected to caste-based discrimination by her upper-caste friends.
In 2019, their moms filed a PIL in the highest courtroom looking for a mechanism to finish caste-based discrimination on campuses.
They claimed that there’s a rampant prevalence of caste discrimination towards members of the SC/ST group.
They additionally sought a route to all Universities and better academic establishments to set up Equal Opportunity Cells on the traces of such different current anti-discrimination inner complaints mechanisms and to embrace members from the SC/ST communities and impartial representatives from NGO’s or social activists to guarantee objectivity and impartiality in the method. (ANI)