UGC anti-caste rules: Major student bodies in campuses across India split over Supreme Court stay

The 2026 UGC regulations, notified on January 13, had intended to update the “equity” regulations first issued by the UGC in 2012. The new rules, which mandated anti-discrimination committees and formal complaint mechanisms in universities, came in the long shadow of two deaths that reshaped the debate on caste and higher education – Rohith Vemula and Payal Tadvi, who died by suicide over alleged caste-based discrimination at, respectively, University of Hyderabad (UoH) in 2016 and a Mumbai medical college in 2019.

Since the notification, the rules have triggered sharp political reactions and fears of misuse and selective targeting have dominated public debate.

Several student leaders across the country have not only backed new UGC regulations, despite their flaws, but also criticised the Supreme Court’s decision to stay them. But in some student quarters, the response has ranged from muted to outright support.

Delhi

While the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) acknowledged the stated intent of the regulations, its office-bearers flagged apprehensions over misuse and implementation. DUSU secretary Deepika Jha, a member of the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), said the regulations had come “after many student movements and repeated struggles against caste oppression in universities,” adding, “the government has bowed before student power”.

But she cautioned against mistaking legislation for transformation. “Even after strict laws like the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, there has been no reduction in suicides of Dalit students due to discrimination,” she said, adding that implementation would be the real test.

In an official statement on Thursday, the ABVP welcomed the Supreme Court’s stay order. “This order is significant as it helps dispel the widespread ambiguity surrounding the UGC equity regulations across the country, while reaffirming the constitutional principles of equality and fairness,” the statement said.

DUSU vice-president Rahul Jhansla, who belongs to the Congress-affiliated National Students Union of India (NSUI), said, “There should be social equality for all sections in educational institutions, and no form of discrimination should exist on campuses,” he said.

Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) president Aditi Mishra, of the Left Unity panel, said the new regulations were flawed but necessary. “These regulations were not brought as a favour to marginalised communities. The UGC was forced to bring them after years of struggle by Rohith Vemula’s and Payal Tadvi’s families and by the orders of the Supreme Court. We welcomed them as a step forward, despite their ambiguities,” Mishra said.

“It is deeply shameful and unfortunate that the Supreme Court has now stayed the regulations following upper-caste outrage… Ultimately, what we need is a comprehensive Rohith Vemula Act, not an ambiguous regulation,” Mishra added.

However, the JNU Teachers’ Association, in a statement Thursday, said the regulations were based on the “entirely false premise” that administrations could be “blindly trusted” to prevent discrimination.

West Bengal

At Calcutta University, both the Trinamool Congress-affiliated Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP) and the CPI(M)-affiliated Students Federation of India (SFI) not only backed the new regulations, but also decried the Supreme Court’s stay order.

TMCP general secretary Abhirup Chakraborty said, “The new UGC rules should have been introduced earlier. There is no discrimination in West Bengal, we believe in unity in diversity. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has already given reservation to Other Backward Classes. But the new rules should be imposed in BJP-ruled states. The BJP even discriminates within Hindus.”

On the top court’s stay order, Chakraborty said, “The court should look into the matter and see that there should be no discrimination.”

However, the SFI’s Calcutta University president Priyanka Ghosh was harsher in her criticism of the apex court’s stay order. “The Supreme Court just hit the pause button on the UGC’s 2026 equity regulations, calling them ‘too sweeping’ and ‘vague’, as if caste discrimination on campuses has ever been vague or subtle… These new regulations, flawed as they were, at least tried to name the problem and build real mechanisms against it,” she said.

“Now the court worries about ‘misuse’ and ‘dividing society’ Funny how the same concern never kicks in when upper-caste privilege quietly divides campuses every single day. This stay isn’t protecting equity; it’s preserving the status quo where the powerful stay comfortable and the marginalised keep suffering in silence,” Ghosh added.

Uttar Pradesh

The new UGC rules had sparked protests across UP, leading to the resignation of Bareilly city magistrate and at least 11 Lucknow BJP office-bearers over fears that the rules would be “misused”, particularly against upper-caste communities.

Satyam Kushwaha, an NSUI functionary in Prayagraj who is also active in Allahabad University politics, said he welcomed the apex court’s order despite supporting the new regulations. “More than the political ideology, in this case, it has been clear on campuses that Dalits, STs and OBCs are in favour of it, while the remaining stand on the other side. We have been standing in support of the regulations. While the court’s directions are welcome, we would wait and watch for future course of action,” he said.

Telangana

At UoH, where a protest against caste discrimination in higher education institutions had raged in January 2016 with the suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula, there has not been much debate around the new UGC rules or the Supreme Court’s stay order.

On campus, the student union is led by the ABVP, while the SFI, NSUI and Ambedkar Students Association (ASA) are in the opposition.

Initially, these student outfits had welcomed the new UGC regulations, but with caveats. While the ABVP central leadership had asked the UGC to “clarify” certain parts of the equity guidelines before the top court, the SFI central leadership had issued a statement asking for better framing of the clauses dealing with equity.

The ASA, which has long been demanding a Rohith Vemula Act against discrimination, said the UGC rules “watered down” the provisions dealing with social justice on campus.

However, on Thursday, local leaders of these student bodies declined to comment on the court’s stay order, maintaining that their central leadership would spell out their positions.