The University Grants Commission’s newly notified Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions Regulations, 2026 have triggered widespread protests across university campuses, with general-category students and sections of faculty expressing concerns over alleged vagueness, potential misuse, and lack of safeguards against false complaints. Amid the backlash, the regulations, which mandate equity committees, helplines, and time-bound action on complaints of caste-based discrimination, particularly from SC, ST, and OBC students have found strong backing from several political leaders and student groups.

Speaking in defence of the regulations, Kanchan Yadav, national spokesperson of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, said the UGC’s move was long overdue and accused sections of the upper-caste society of resisting any reform aimed at marginalised communities.

Responding to protests by groups including the Karni Sena and other savarna organisations demanding the rollback of the regulations, Yadav said, “Look, it was very necessary. And it’s not that it has become necessary only now, it was needed long ago. Especially, whenever any government tries to do something new for OBCs, SCs, STs, we have seen that the upper-caste mindset, the Manuvadi mindset, always opposes it.”

Rejecting the claim that equity measures deprive others of their rights, she said, “They are not taking your rights, they are asking for their own rights. This needs to be understood.”

Citing her experience at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Yadav alleged discrimination in higher education admissions, stating, “In JNU, there is a 100-mark interview for PhD admissions through JRF. Now, if the candidate is from an upper caste, they will be given 80 or 90 marks out of 100. But candidates from Bahujan communities are given 10, 20, or 30 marks and are failed.”

She further linked institutional discrimination to student suicides, saying, “That is why you see that every year, whether in IITs, Delhi University, or JNU, Bahujan students commit suicide due to harassment. We have not forgotten the Rohith Vemula case.”

When questioned about objections to including OBCs under the regulations, Yadav challenged critics to produce representation data. “How many OBC professors are there in central universities? OBCs form nearly 50% of the population. Do you see 50% OBC professors anywhere?” she asked, adding, “Show us the data! Let the central government present the data!”

Addressing claims by savarna groups that the regulations would divide Hindus, Yadav said, “If they are truly talking about Hindu unity, then their own Hindu brothers and sisters from the OBC community should come forward in support.” She added that OBCs were often considered Hindu only for electoral purposes, saying, “You stop considering them as Hindus the moment they demand their rights.”

On fears expressed by sections of the upper-caste community that the rules could be misused to “frame” individuals, Yadav dismissed the need for reassurance. “We don’t need to assure them. They should trust by themselves,” she said, adding, “If we are getting any rights today, why should we assure you? You should trust by yourselves.”

Reacting to street protests by Karni Sena members, she questioned their legitimacy, stating, “What kind of army are you? We didn’t create you as an army, we don’t consider you an army.” She added, “99% of the country’s population doesn’t consider them an army.”

Concluding her remarks, Yadav took a confrontational stance on opposition to the regulations, saying, “If injustice happens to a community, and a law has come to provide them justice, then you are opposing that law because you will be framed. You should be framed!” She added, “You should be framed on the basis that you have never given the 90% of this country’s OBC, SC, ST, the majority population, their rights.”

Elaborating further, she said, “They should believe it themselves that people who have enjoyed the pleasures of power for thousands of years, people who for thousands of years have sat in the institutions, people who for thousands of years have occupied the country’s universities, the country’s institutions, the gurukuls – wherever and in whatever form our systems existed – people who captured every space in the education system, if today we are getting some rights, then why should we convince you? You believe it by yourself.”

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The post GC Must Be Framed With False Charges Because They Never Gave Rights To SC/ST, Says RJD Spokie Kanchan Yadav appeared first on The Commune.