Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan spoke to the media on the issue of the UGC Equity regulations for the first time on 27 January 2026. Pradhan sought to assure the people that no one will be harassed and no one will be allowed to misuse the UGC guidelines for ‘equity’.
That however does little to repel the widespread fears of their misuse against the ‘General Castes’ simply because the notification released on 13 January is clear that only the students belonging to the SC, ST and OBC communities can claim they were subjected to “caste-based discrimination”.
For the Education Ministry and the UGC, the guidelines represent a major lapse of judgment and the biggest…