The higher education regulator wants every institution to form four different forums to deal with cases of discrimination and mandates students and faculty to submit undertakings that they will not indulge in any form of bias.
The University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations also direct every university and college to establish an equity helpline to help victims of discrimination in reporting incidents. The helpline shall also be prominently made available on the higher education institutions’ websites.
Each institution will have an equity committee headed by the head of the institution and will comprise of three professors, one staff member, two students, two civil society representatives and the coordinator of the Equal Opportunity Centres (EOCs). The committee is required to have representation from OBCs, persons with disabilities, SCs, STs and women.
The committee shall meet within 24 hours of the receipt of information of discrimination and submit its report within 15 working days. Further action will be taken as per the rules of the institution within seven working days based on the report. A person aggrieved by the report of the committee may file an appeal before the ombudsperson within 30 days.
The EOCs will oversee the effective implementation of policies for disadvantaged groups.
The rules want every higher educational institution (HEI) to constitute equity squads for maintaining vigil and preventing any discrimination on the campus. The institute will also designate at least one stakeholder in each department, hostel, library or facility to act as an equity ambassador who shall remain in touch with the EOC.
“HEIs shall ensure that all students at the time of taking admission or renewal of admission and all faculty members and staff furnish an undertaking to the effect that he/she shall promote equity and will not indulge himself/herself in any form of discrimination,” the regulations say.
Prof. N. Sukumar, a faculty member of political science at Delhi University, said the new rules provide for multiple forums with ambiguous roles.
“Incidents of discrimination often happen in a subtle manner. The equity squads or equity ambassadors can hardly do anything to check such incidents despite remaining vigilant. With so many layers of forums, it is quite possible the complainant may have run from one forum to another and the purpose of checking discrimination may be defeated in this process,” Sukumar said.