Hyderabad, April 5: The University of Hyderabad, where Dalit PhD scholar Rohith Vemula committed suicide in January, is planning to appoint an anti-discrimination officer and set up an equal opportunity cell to look into complaints of prejudice.

"The academic council is meeting on Wednesday to take the decision," vice-chancellor Appa Rao Podile told The Telegraph over the phone.

UGC guidelines of 2012 require all central universities to appoint such an ombudsman, but these had largely been ignored until the uproar over Rohith's death forced the Centre to review their implementation. A conference of vice-chancellors of all central universities in February agreed to appoint an anti-discrimination officer.

"In the past 10 years, nine Dalits, including Vemula, took their lives because of discrimination. Madari Venkatesh, a third year PhD student, was not provided with a guide, the reason why he committed suicide in 2013," Mohammed Ashraf, a PhD scholar and former convener of the Ambedkar Students' Association, said.

Rohith was a member of the association, which is now heading the "Justice for Rohith" protests.

The varsity, ranked fourth after JNU on a list of the country's best universities released by HRD minister Smriti Irani yesterday, has been at the centre of protests since Rohith's suicide.

Podile, who is named as an accused in the FIR on Rohith's suicide, said: "While we are proud of our ranking, we are acutely aware of the immense responsibilities and challenges that are ahead of us in making this institution more accessible, inclusive, and equitable for all sections of the society."

Rohith had committed suicide weeks after he and four other Dalit students were suspended by the varsity on an ABVP complaint.

The academic council meeting will be held on a day the joint action committee of students protesting against the suicide has called for a rally. The organisers expect hundreds of students from other universities and academics to join them. Political parties, too, have extended support.

However, the university had imposed a ban on the entry of outsiders, including the media, after Podile's sudden return from leave on March 22 triggered violent protests on the campus. The vice-chancellor had gone on leave after the suicide and returned before his name was cleared.