‘Specify steps taken to finish caste discrimination on campuses’: SC to UGC

By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday requested the University Grants Commission (UGC) to specify steps it has taken and proposed to take, to supply a non-discriminatory, enabling atmosphere for the scholars belonging to Scheduled Castes and Schedule Tribes in establishments of upper studying, terming it a “very serious issue”.

A bench of Justices AS Bopanna and MM Sundresh requested the UGC to furnish the small print of steps taken on a plea by the moms of Rohith Vemula and Payal Tadvi, who had allegedly died by suicide following alleged caste-based discrimination of their instructional establishments.

While Vemula, a Dalit PhD scholar at Hyderabad Central University, had ended his life on January 17, 2016, Tadvi, a tribal scholar at TN Topiwala National Medical College, Mumbai, took the intense step on May 22, 2019, as a result of alleged caste-based discrimination by three docs of her establishment.

“This is a very serious issue. Whatever concerns are raised… how do you propose to deal with it and what steps have you taken to address these grievances? This issue is non-adversarial and the UGC needs to take some concrete action. It is for the benefit of students and their parents. Steps taken would ensure that these types of incidents don’t happen in future,” the bench instructed the counsel showing for the UGC.

Senior advocate Indira Jaising, showing for the moms of Vemula and Tadvi, stated they’ve misplaced their son and daughter respectively, and up to now yr three extra college students learning at a National Law School, a medical faculty and the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay have taken their lives.

“Therefore, there is a sense of urgency about this petition. It would be appropriate that UGC formulates binding guidelines which can be followed by institutes of higher learning. “It is unlucky that the present tips don’t have a binding impact as they don’t have any sanction for violation of the norms. There must be some rules like Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH) at Workplace Act and the anti-ragging legislation, which supplies for punitive motion in case of violation”, Jaising stated.

She stated fairness rules framed by the UGC in 2012 to deal with the complaints of caste discrimination on campuses are proving to be insufficient. The counsel for UGC stated the Commission is conscious of the state of affairs and has written to vice-chancellors of universities and faculty principals. Justice Sundresh instructed the counsel that efforts wanted to be made so the scholars from SC/ST communities are mainstreamed.

“You need to ensure that there is no discrimination as some of them may drop out of the college/universities if they don’t get along with other students. For this, some out-of-the-box solutions are needed,” he stated.

The bench then requested the UGC counsel to elicit recommendations from the petitioners and file a reply specifying the steps it has taken and proposed to take to create a non-discriminatory atmosphere on campuses inside 4 weeks.

On September 20, 2019, the highest courtroom issued a discover on the plea by the moms of Vemula and Tadvi, looking for to finish caste bias in universities and different larger training establishments throughout the nation. It had sought responses from the Centre and the UGC on the petition.

The petitioners have sought enforcement of elementary rights, significantly the proper to equality, proper to prohibition of discrimination in opposition to caste, and the proper to life. The petition has claimed rampant prevalence of caste-based discrimination in larger instructional establishments all through the nation and stated it displays flagrant non-compliance with present norms and rules.

It has stated these incidents are violative of the elemental rights to equality, equal alternative, proper in opposition to discrimination, abolition of untouchability, and proper to life assured beneath Articles 14, 15, 16, 17 and 21 of the Constitution.

The petitioners have sought instructions to the Centre and the UGC to strictly guarantee enforcement of and compliance with the UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2012, popularly referred to as ‘UGC fairness rules’. They have additionally sought instructions from the Centre and the UGC to make sure that all universities, together with deemed universities and better instructional establishments, adjust to UGC fairness rules in “letter and in spirit”.

The plea has sought the courtroom’s course to make sure that all universities and Higher Education Institutions (HEI) set up Equal Opportunity Cells and different anti-discrimination inner grievance mechanisms and to incorporate members from SC/ST communities and unbiased representatives from NGOs or social activists to make sure objectivity and impartiality within the course of.

It has additionally sought course to all universities to take robust disciplinary motion in opposition to the victimisation of scholars or employees who file complaints alleging caste-based discrimination and to take vital steps within the nature of interim reliefs that restrain the HEI from making a hostile atmosphere in opposition to college students who file such complaints.

Besides these instructions, the petition has sought varied steps to make sure an finish to caste-based discrimination on campuses. “Since 2004, there have been over 20 documented instances of students committing suicides across the universities in the country. Various committees set up to look into these deaths have concluded that SC, ST students have faced systematic discrimination in matters of allotting supervisors, caste-based abuses, problems in matters of scholarships, and more,” the plea has stated.

READ MORE: Mothers of Rohith Vemula, Payal Tadvi transfer SC for placing finish to caste-based bias in campuses

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday requested the University Grants Commission (UGC) to specify steps it has taken and proposed to take, to supply a non-discriminatory, enabling atmosphere for the scholars belonging to Scheduled Castes and Schedule Tribes in establishments of upper studying, terming it a “very serious issue”.

A bench of Justices AS Bopanna and MM Sundresh requested the UGC to furnish the small print of steps taken on a plea by the moms of Rohith Vemula and Payal Tadvi, who had allegedly died by suicide following alleged caste-based discrimination of their instructional establishments.

While Vemula, a Dalit PhD scholar at Hyderabad Central University, had ended his life on January 17, 2016, Tadvi, a tribal scholar at TN Topiwala National Medical College, Mumbai, took the intense step on May 22, 2019, as a result of alleged caste-based discrimination by three docs of her establishment.googletag.cmd.push(perform() googletag.show(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); );

“This is a very serious issue. Whatever concerns are raised… how do you propose to deal with it and what steps have you taken to address these grievances? This issue is non-adversarial and the UGC needs to take some concrete action. It is for the benefit of students and their parents. Steps taken would ensure that these types of incidents don’t happen in future,” the bench instructed the counsel showing for the UGC.

Senior advocate Indira Jaising, showing for the moms of Vemula and Tadvi, stated they’ve misplaced their son and daughter respectively, and up to now yr three extra college students learning at a National Law School, a medical faculty and the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay have taken their lives.

“Therefore, there is a sense of urgency about this petition. It would be appropriate that UGC formulates binding guidelines which can be followed by institutes of higher learning. “It is unlucky that the present tips don’t have a binding impact as they don’t have any sanction for violation of the norms. There must be some rules like Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH) at Workplace Act and the anti-ragging legislation, which supplies for punitive motion in case of violation”, Jaising stated.

She stated fairness rules framed by the UGC in 2012 to deal with the complaints of caste discrimination on campuses are proving to be insufficient. The counsel for UGC stated the Commission is conscious of the state of affairs and has written to vice-chancellors of universities and faculty principals. Justice Sundresh instructed the counsel that efforts wanted to be made so the scholars from SC/ST communities are mainstreamed.

“You need to ensure that there is no discrimination as some of them may drop out of the college/universities if they don’t get along with other students. For this, some out-of-the-box solutions are needed,” he stated.

The bench then requested the UGC counsel to elicit recommendations from the petitioners and file a reply specifying the steps it has taken and proposed to take to create a non-discriminatory atmosphere on campuses inside 4 weeks.

On September 20, 2019, the highest courtroom issued a discover on the plea by the moms of Vemula and Tadvi, looking for to finish caste bias in universities and different larger training establishments throughout the nation. It had sought responses from the Centre and the UGC on the petition.

The petitioners have sought enforcement of elementary rights, significantly the proper to equality, proper to prohibition of discrimination in opposition to caste, and the proper to life. The petition has claimed rampant prevalence of caste-based discrimination in larger instructional establishments all through the nation and stated it displays flagrant non-compliance with present norms and rules.

It has stated these incidents are violative of the elemental rights to equality, equal alternative, proper in opposition to discrimination, abolition of untouchability, and proper to life assured beneath Articles 14, 15, 16, 17 and 21 of the Constitution.

The petitioners have sought instructions to the Centre and the UGC to strictly guarantee enforcement of and compliance with the UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2012, popularly referred to as ‘UGC fairness rules’. They have additionally sought instructions from the Centre and the UGC to make sure that all universities, together with deemed universities and better instructional establishments, adjust to UGC fairness rules in “letter and in spirit”.

The plea has sought the courtroom’s course to make sure that all universities and Higher Education Institutions (HEI) set up Equal Opportunity Cells and different anti-discrimination inner grievance mechanisms and to incorporate members from SC/ST communities and unbiased representatives from NGOs or social activists to make sure objectivity and impartiality within the course of.

It has additionally sought course to all universities to take robust disciplinary motion in opposition to the victimisation of scholars or employees who file complaints alleging caste-based discrimination and to take vital steps within the nature of interim reliefs that restrain the HEI from making a hostile atmosphere in opposition to college students who file such complaints.

Besides these instructions, the petition has sought varied steps to make sure an finish to caste-based discrimination on campuses. “Since 2004, there have been over 20 documented instances of students committing suicides across the universities in the country. Various committees set up to look into these deaths have concluded that SC, ST students have faced systematic discrimination in matters of allotting supervisors, caste-based abuses, problems in matters of scholarships, and more,” the plea has stated.

READ MORE: Mothers of Rohith Vemula, Payal Tadvi transfer SC for placing finish to caste-based bias in campuses