The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the University Grants Commission (UGC) to detail the affirmative action taken to rid campuses of caste discrimination.
A Bench led by Justice A.S. Bopanna referred to the tragedy of the petitioners, who are the mothers of Rohith Vemula and Payal Tadvi, saying the authorities should take up the issue in a sensitive manner and ensure that no parent faces such a loss in the future.
Justice M.M. Sundresh suggested that the UGC ought to adopt a consultative approach and consult the petitioners while chalking out its course of action.
Justice Sundresh asked about the UGC’s plans to bring students belonging to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities into the mainstream. He pointed out that the challenges faced by these children were manifold.
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The petitioners have urged the court to direct the Commission to strictly ensure enforcement of and compliance with the UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2012.
They submitted that higher educational institutions and universities, including deemed ones, should establish ‘equal opportunity cells’ to receive and respond to complaints from students.
“Universities and institutions should upload on their websites all measures for elimination of caste-based discrimination,” the petition said.
The petitioners have asked the court to direct the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) “to cater to diversity and affirmative action policy as a separate criterion and thus incentivise universities to develop a congenial atmosphere that promotes diversity”.
The petition said a report by a committee under the chairmanship of Professor Sukhdeo Thorat had found “rampant prevalence of caste-based discrimination on the campus”.
Rohith Vemula, a Ph.D. scholar at the University of Hyderabad, and Dr. Payal Tadvi, a second-year resident doctor at Topiwala National Medical College in Mumbai, died by suicide allegedly over caste-based discrimination.
