The party accuses the BJP-led Union government of increasingly communalising education by introducing ‘retrograde and unscientific’ elements into academic curricula
NEW DELHI – The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Wednesday accused the RSS and its affiliate organisations of exploiting the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) newly notified equity regulations to foment caste divisions within higher education institutions. The Left party demanded that the Union government take immediate steps to curb such attempts and act firmly against what it termed the RSS’s “foot-soldiers.”
In a statement, the CPI(M) also urged the UGC to urgently rectify “serious inadequacies” in the Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions Regulations, 2026.
Under the regulations, all UGC-affiliated universities and colleges are required to constitute an “Equity Committee” to address discrimination. While welcoming the provision in principle, the CPI(M) stressed that its implementation must be closely monitored. The party noted that the regulations stem from Article 14 of the Constitution and Supreme Court observations—similar to the 2012 regulations—and must therefore be enforced in both letter and spirit.
However, the CPI(M) pointed out that the regulations apply only to universities and their affiliated colleges, leaving out central institutions such as IITs, IIMs, AIIMS, and other autonomous bodies. It termed this exclusion a “serious lacuna” and called on the government to extend effective equity mechanisms to these institutions as well.
The party further criticised the regulations for failing to define discrimination comprehensively. By focusing largely on the perception of discrimination, it said, the framework risks obscuring the lived realities of students and faculty. The CPI(M) demanded that the regulations be strengthened to explicitly acknowledge, define, identify, and eliminate all forms of discrimination in higher education.
Objecting to the process of constituting equity committees, the party said the responsibility should not rest solely with heads of institutions. Instead, it argued, committee members should be chosen through democratically elected representatives of students, faculty, and non-teaching staff to ensure credibility and accountability.
The CPI(M) also opposed the UGC’s move to vest itself with the power to appoint ombudspersons to hear appeals against equity committee decisions. Since many universities are established through state legislation, the party said the authority to appoint ombudspersons should lie with respective state governments, in keeping with federal principles enshrined in the Constitution.
The party accused the BJP-led Union government of increasingly communalising education by introducing “retrograde and unscientific” elements into academic curricula. The inclusion of texts such as the Manusmriti, it said, legitimises caste discrimination and glorifies a varna-based, oppressive social order, thereby reinforcing caste- and gender-based prejudices. The CPI(M) demanded the immediate removal of such texts from academic syllabi.
The backlash from upper-caste groups against the new regulations mirrors the resistance witnessed during the implementation of the Mandal Commission recommendations in the 1990s.
Appealing for unity, the CPI(M) called upon students and all those associated with educational institutions to resist divisive forces, stating that only collective effort can effectively combat caste discrimination.
