A day after more than 60 students gathered outside the University Grants Commission (UGC) headquarters at ITO, dozens of Delhi University (DU) gathered near Arts Faculty in North Campus on Wednesday, in demand of “complete rollback of the UGC Equity Regulations”.
The students also submitted a memorandum to the DU Proctor’s office, stating, “We, the concerned stakeholders, demand immediate rollback of the unjustified UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026, which are biased and divisive in addition to being shrouded in ambiguity, decorated with loopholes and adorned with vagueness.”
A PhD student present at the protest, Aman Sharma, said that the regulations will “aggravate the existing differences instead of sensitisation”.
Alokit Tripathi, another PhD student, said, “We want DU, as one of the largest central university in the country, to take note of our memorandum as well and support the complete roll back of the regulations to avoid an environment of unrest and anxiety that is sure to follow the implementation of the regulations. We have also informed the university authorities that we will go on an indefinite strike if we do not get a response from the concerned authorities by 2pm on Saturday (January 31).”
DU proctor, Manoj Kumar Singh, said, “We have received the memorandum. There will be discussions on the same in due course.” He added that the discussion on the matter will be taken up with UGC.
The regulations were notified by UGC on January 13, 2026. Under the new framework, universities, colleges and deemed-to-be universities must establish an Equal Opportunity Centre with an “Equity Committee” to handle discrimination complaints and promote inclusion. The regulations aim to eradicate discrimination based on religion, race, caste, gender, place of birth and disability. The committee, chaired by the head of the respective institution, will inquire into complaints, recommend corrective action, protect complainants, besides running a 24×7 equity helpline and an online reporting system.