"I thank court for decision": Union Minister Giriraj Singh on SC's stay on new UGC regulations

Speaking with ANI, Giriraj Singh said, "I thank everyone, including the country's Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. I thank the court for the decision it has passed. Prime Minister Modi has never discriminated against anyone in the country. It was Prime Minister Modi who gave reservations to EWS. People like us live only for the people of our country."

BJP RS MP Manan Kumar Mishra also welcomed SC's decision and assured that the government would resolve the "lacks" in the resolution.

"The court's interference seemed valid with some of the lacks in the Bill. Now the government and the UGC will get a chance. Our Education Minister had already said that there will be no discrimination against anyone... The government will now resolve the lacks," he said.

Sunil Dahiya, president of Vipra Foundation, said, "We respect the Supreme Court's decision, and the Supreme Court always protects the Constitution. Our opposition is to government policies, including the government's discriminatory and anti-caste policies. This has been going on for 80 years, against our children. For 80 years, the government has discriminated against us. They have made us criminals. We are not going to stop. We have understood that this country is being destroyed on the basis of caste. We will not let that happen."

Amid an uproar around the country over the alleged "discrimination" against the General Category in the University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026, the SC on Thursday stayed the regulations.

The Top Court said that, for now, the 2012 UGC regulations will continue to apply. The Court opined that there is complete vagueness in Regulation 3 (C) (which defines caste-based discrimination), and it can be misused. "The language needs to be re-modified," the Court said.

The Court noted that this raises an unexamined concern: if a Group A Scheduled Caste individual makes discriminatory or derogatory remarks against a Group B Scheduled Caste individual, has this aspect been adequately addressed under the 2026 framework?

After 75 years of trying to make a caste-less society, whether the direction of policy-making is progressive or tending towards a regressive approach, it asked.

The new regulations, introduced to curb caste-based discrimination in colleges and universities, require institutions to establish special committees and helplines to address complaints from students in the Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), and Other Backwards Classes (OBC) categories.

Students, mostly from the general category, protested against regulations that promote discrimination on campuses rather than equality. The students noted that the regulation has no provision to address fraudulent complaints filed against General Category students. (ANI)