India, Feb. 1 -- The UGC's 2026 Equity Regulations, notified on January 13, have sparked controversy over their definition of caste-based discrimination as applying only to SC/ST/OBC communities, excluding general category students from protection. Detractors argue this creates a hierarchy of victimhood and denies grievance redressal to those outside SC/ST/OBC categories facing caste-based harassment.

Critics also contest the absence of penalties for false complaints and the lack of general category representation in Equity Committees. The regulations emerged from tragic suicides of students like Rohith Vemula and Payal Tadvi due to alleged discrimination, sparking conversations demanding the establishment of enforcement mechanisms with ...