New Delhi: UGC inventory laws have put the Bharatiya Janata Celebration on the defensive, however the opposition events are additionally in a predicament. They’re torn between opposing the foundations or coping with the backlash from the higher castes in the event that they help them.
This tightrope stroll is obvious within the cautious stance taken by political events such because the Congress and the Samajwadi Celebration (SP).
Though Congress has made social justice a cornerstone of its political pillars lately, it has to this point averted taking a maximalist place on the difficulty. Relatively, the get together is split, with its leaders expressing completely different views.
Even leaders intently aligned with Rahul Gandhi’s emphasis on caste and social justice have stopped in need of overtly endorsing the rule, conscious of the danger of additional alienating upper-caste voters who’ve been steadily drifting away from the get together.
On the similar time, some Congress leaders, together with Uttar Pradesh Meeting Speaker Ajay Rai, have criticized the laws, saying they’re attempting to sow division in society. The get together management, nonetheless, urged leaders important of the foundations to coordinate their response in order to not undermine the get together’s parallel efforts to strengthen help amongst Different Backward Courses (OBCs).
Different opposition events seem like in an analogous predicament. Requested in regards to the restrictions on Wednesday, Samajwadi Celebration chief Akhilesh Yadav mentioned privately: “The responsible shouldn’t be excused and the harmless shouldn’t be imprisoned.”
As protests in opposition to the brand new UGC guidelines intensified on Tuesday, the Congress’ Parliamentary Technique Group, chaired by Sonia Gandhi, met in New Delhi. The assembly was attended by opposition leaders from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and others.
The assembly was convened to finalize the get together’s technique for the funds session that begins on Wednesday, however the dispute over UGC guidelines was additionally included within the dialogue, the individuals mentioned.
Requested in regards to the get together’s stand after the assembly, Congress MP and Rajya Sabha’s Nasir Hussain reiterated the get together’s long-standing demand for a caste census. “Now we have demanded a caste census and all points will likely be taken up and resolved by way of the caste census,” he advised reporters.
Additional complicating issues for the Congress is that a number of the suggestions integrated within the now notified UGC laws are from a parliamentary committee chaired by senior Congress chief and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh.
In its report submitted to Parliament on 8 December 2025, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Training, Ladies, Youngsters, Youth and Sport really useful that the draft laws explicitly embody: Motion in opposition to harassment of scholars and different stakeholders from OBC neighborhood. This falls throughout the definition of caste-based discrimination in step with the constitutional recognition of OBCs as socially and educationally backward lessons beneath Articles 15(4) and 15(5).
Senior parliamentary officers maintained that the federal government was guilty for the present controversy, and famous that a lot of the confusion might have been averted if the federal government had accepted one other key suggestion of the committee – clearly enumerating discriminatory practices relatively than leaving interpretation to particular person establishments.
Up to now, the Congress seems to be treading cautiously, permitting the Nationwide College students Union of India (NSUI), a scholar physique, to take the lead, whereas the central management stays in a wait-and-see perspective.
“Welcome the UGC Guidelines on Caste-Based mostly Discrimination as a mandatory step to handle discrimination on campuses throughout the nation,” the NSUI mentioned in a press release, however cautioned that the committee proposed beneath the foundations “should not stay symbolic or administrative in nature.”
“Present laws don’t tackle the management or composition of this committee. Any try to create a puppet group managed by college directors would undermine the very goal of fairness and justice,” NSUI mentioned.
New laws have been notified on January 13 that require all increased training establishments to arrange an “fairness committee” to research complaints of discrimination and promote equity.
The UGC (Selling Fairness in Increased Training Establishments) Guidelines, 2026 made it obligatory for these committees to incorporate members of Different Backward Courses (OBCs), Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), individuals with disabilities, and girls.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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