What provisions do the new UGC rules for campuses have regarding reservation and discrimination against persons with disabilities?
UGC Equality Rules 2026: If you are a college student or will be attending university soon, it is crucial for you to know about the UGC's new rules. The UGC has implemented new and stricter "equality" rules for all colleges in the country, effective January 13, 2026. The aim of these rules is to eliminate discrimination against any student on campus, but some points of these rules have now sparked controversy.
What are the new rules?
Now, along with caste, religion, gender, and place of birth, disability is also considered a major basis for discrimination. This means that if a disabled student faces any mistreatment on campus, it will now be considered a serious offense.
Previously, decisions on discrimination complaints were left to the discretion of the institutions, but now the UGC has released a long list of "discriminatory behaviors." If any institution is found to be directly or indirectly discriminating against SC/ST or OBC students, strict action will be taken against them.
50% Reservation in Committees: Under the new rules, every college will now have an "Equity Committee." Based on the recommendation of the parliamentary committee headed by Digvijay Singh, more than half (50%) of the members of this 10-member committee will be from the SC, ST, and OBC categories.
Additionally, every college will now have to submit an annual public report detailing the number of discrimination cases reported and the actions taken. However, the hashtag #RollbackUGC has started trending on social media against these rules. Those protesting allege that these rules are portraying general category students as "potential criminals," which they are calling "UGC's black law."
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