'Contemplating to appoint a committee': Centre to SC on UGC's equity rules

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Thursday told the Supreme Court that it is considering constituting a committee to revisit the University Grants Commission's (UGC) notified rules introduced to prevent caste discrimination in educational institutions, Bar and Bench reported.Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi that the Centre is examining the issue to address students' concerns and ensure that no section feels dissatisfied or apprehensive."The government has taken a decision that every student should be taken care of. Nobody should have any apprehension. Nobody should feel dissatisfied. We are also considering the interests of the younger generation. The government is contemplating appointing a committee," SG Mehta told the apex court.This comes as the apex court was hearing a batch of petitions challenging the UGC regulations.The 2026 regulations had already been kept in abeyance by the top court on January 29. At the time, the court said the provisions were "prima facie vague" and could have "very sweeping consequences", warning that they could potentially divide society and have a "dangerous impact". The court had also asked the Centre and the UGC to respond to three petitions challenging the new framework."In exercise of our powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, we further direct that the University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2012, will continue to operate and remain in force till further orders," it had said.The regulations had faced opposition in several places, with student groups and other organisations calling for their immediate withdrawal. Rohitashwa Ranjan is a digital journalist with The Times of India, where he decodes Indian politics as a carefully staged production with scripts, subtext and everything behind. His stories track elections, party dynamics and the things that often are buried beneath the headlines. When not parsing vote shares or alliances, he is usually reading between the lines, where the real story tends to reside.