Redress grievances of students: UGC chief to universities

Aksheev Thakur

New Delhi, February 5

University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar has said that universities across the country should implement the Student Grievance Redressal Regulations-2023 so that students did not take extreme steps of self-harm in stress.

Kumar said that students “should not be considered as adversaries, and that it was important to be empathetic towards them”.

In an interaction with the ombudspersons of 600 universities, the UGC Chairman said that in a competitive world, students faced several problems which, if not addressed on time, could lead to a lot of stress and pressure.

“It is important that problems such as non-refund of fee, issues with supervisors, discrimination and hostel troubles should be addressed on priority so that students don’t feel helpless,” he said.

The regulations aim to simplify and improve the mechanism for handling student grievances. According to the rules, all higher education institutions must establish a students’ grievances redressal committee and appoint ombudspersons.

UGC Joint Secretary Deepak Vats said 700 universities had appointed ombudspersons while 300, including 162 private, were yet to do so.