SC notice to Centre on plea of mothers of Rohith Vemula, Payal Tadvi

 

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notices to the Centre and University Grants Commission (UGC) on a PIL filed by the mothers of Rohit Vemula and Payal Tadvi seeking directions to put in place effective mechanisms to end caste-based discrimination in educational campuses.

 

A Bench headed by Justice NV Ramana was initially reluctant to issue notices as it said UGC guidelines were already in place to deal with caste discrimination and ragging in higher education institutions.

 

However, it asked the Centre and UGC to spell out their respective stand after senior advocate Indira Jaising, representing the petitioners, said the UGC Guidelines were not being followed by hundreds of colleges and universities across India.

 

The petitioners have sought directions to the Centre and the University Grants Commission (UGC) to strictly ensure enforcement of and compliance with the UGC, (Promotion of Equity in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2012, popularly called "UGC equity regulations".

 

A PhD Scholar at the University of Hyderabad, Vemula had committed suicide after being suspended from his campus residence on the basis of a complaint branding him as ‘casteist’ and ‘anti–national’.

 

Payal Tadvi, a tribal student of TN Topiwala National Medical College in Maharashtra committed suicide on May 22, 2019 after being subjected to caste based discrimination by her seniors in the college.

 

The petitioners—mothers of the two students—alleged that caste discrimination against members of the SC, ST community in educational institutions was rampant and existing norms and regulations were not being  complied with.

 

The norms are inadequate insofar as they do not properly address the occurrence of caste-based discrimination on campus against both teachers and students, fail to provide an independent, unbiased complaint redressal mechanism and do not provide for any punitive sanction on higher educational institutions for their failure to take positive steps to prevent discrimination on the basis of caste on campus, the petitioners alleged.

 

Caste-based discrimination on the campus amounted to violation of Article 15, came to be recognised by the media in the year 2006 with reports that highlighted the rampant prevalence of caste based discrimination on the campus of All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

These included instances such as referring to students from the SC/ST as ‘unmeritorious’, subjecting them to derogatory slurs and remarks and professors purposely awarding students from the SC/ST community lower grades, they said.