The University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026, have sparked a significant debate regarding the autonomy of academic spaces and the role of the State in student life.
While framed as a move toward inclusivity, the framework has faced criticism for its structural similarities to colonial control mechanisms and its potential to stifle the very environment it seeks to protect.
Here are 25 points explaining the colonial era policy present in this Regultaion.
1. The UGC 2026 Regulations introduce a system of continuous monitoring through Equity Squads, which may transform campuses from spaces of intellectual inquiry into zones of permanent surveillance.
2. These mobile units are tasked with patrolling vulnerable spots, a practice that mirrors policing rather than traditional academic mentorship or support. Such policing was there in British era.
3. The broad and subjective definition of discrimination, including implicit bias and actions affecting human dignity, leaves room for arbitrary interpretation by these squads. Such “implicit” things are part of colonial rules.
4. By institutionalizing Equity Ambassadors in every department and hostel, the policy risks creating a culture of peer-to-peer reporting that erodes the foundational trust of a campus community. No friendship will be developed in campuses and no good memories of college life.
5. The requirement for a 24/7 Equity Helpline centralizes grievance reporting in a way that bypasses traditional departmental resolutions, often favoring administrative oversight over academic dialogue.
6. The mandatory undertakings required at the time of admission force students to pledge allegiance to specific ideological frameworks before they have even begun their studies. Such mandate of undertaking is again imposing British policy to shut the voice of common student.
7. The practice of forceful undertaking is being compared to the British colonial era, where subjects were often required to sign bonds of loyalty to the crown to access public institutions. Remember the Jaliyanwala Kand – similar undertakings were taken.
8. Such signatures at admission create a legalistic barrier that can be weaponized against students who engage in dissent or unorthodox academic expression later in their tenure. British also weaponized the undertaking to suppress Indians.
9. The implementation is absolute and forceful across all Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), leaving no room for institutional autonomy or tailored approaches based on a college’s unique culture. Don’t you think that it is violation of freedom of HEI?
10. By replacing the 2012 guidelines with these more punitive measures, the UGC has shifted from an advisory role to an enforcement body with the power to debar institutions from offering degrees. Who is doing this with UGC?
11. The UGC Equity Regulations have been criticized for codifying social divisions by explicitly recognizing discrimination primarily when directed against specific protected categories. They have created levels of protected categories. Even categories will be divided into pieces.
12. This approach is similar of creating walls of religious and caste-based discrimination, much like the British codes that categorized the Indian population into rigid administrative silos. Still we are in the era of Divide and Rule policies.
13. Instead of moving toward a caste-blind society, the 2026 rules ensure that caste identity remains the primary lens through which all campus interactions are viewed. This rigid caste and religion based identity is a prison of colonial mindset.
14. The removal of safeguards against false or malicious complaints has raised fears that the regulations could be used for personal vendettas or to settle academic rivalries. Why this fear is created? Do UGC want a coward generation?
15. The structure of the Equity Committees, chaired by the Head of Institution, places immense power in hands of few administrators, potentially shielding the institution while targeting individuals. This may be used as tool for exploitation of female students.
16. The mandate for institutions to link with specific NGOs and external authorities further invites outside ideological influence into the heart of the university. These NGOs will work according to their bias towards specific caste, creed, or religious group.
17. In implementing UGC Equity Regulations 2026, the university ceases to be a self-governing intellectual space and becomes a ward of the State’s regulatory apparatus. Let place of knowledge be pure and assimilating. Do not divide it.
18. Kindly note that the present government, led by the BJP, appears to be adopting the very caste-based political strategies it once criticized in the Congress party and its alliance parties. Is Pappu ruling us through Modiji?
19. By leaning heavily into identity-based regulatory frameworks, the current administration is seen as becoming a remote government of the Congress’s traditional caste politics. Is Modi-Shah pair becoming new remote control leaders of this nation?
20. The shift, from unity to divide and rule, suggests a move away from the promise of development-focused politics toward a competition over who can most effectively manage and divide the electorate along traditional lines.
21. The 2026 UGC Regulations are viewed by some as a tactical maneuver to capture the narrative of social justice, mirroring the Congress’s long-standing reliance on proportional representation rhetoric.
22. This convergence of political styles of Caste Based Division suggests that the nuances of individual merit are being sacrificed for the sake of group-based administrative convenience.
23. The focus on identity-based statistics over academic excellence risks a race to the bottom, where institutions prioritize compliance over intellectual rigour. The rigid birth based caste system enforced by British rulers is still a “Gulami Ki Bedi”.
24. When every action is scrutinized for potential implicit bias, faculty may become defensive, avoiding challenging topics that are essential for a robust education. This is loss of academics of HEI as well as students.
25. Ultimately, the 2026 UGC Regulations risk turning the campus, which was once a site of boundless exploration, into a place where barriers are built by the very rules meant to provide access. Do not divide our campus and do not divide our youth.
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