New Delhi: The University Grants Commission’s new rules have included caste-based discrimination in the general complaints section, sparking fear that this will mean a dilution of the rules that were in place to tackle casteism in education institutes, The Telegraph has reported.The UGC (Redressal of Grievances of Students) Regulations, 2023, notified on April 11, have brought in a new slew of regulations including the mandatory formation of a Students Grievance Redressal Committee (SGRC) by every institution. The SGRC will have to look into students’ grievances, which can include dissatisfaction with adherence to admission policies, lack of a prospectus, demand for excess money, delay in exams or results and so on, according to The Hindu. Within the stated ambit of the SGRC is also complaints of discrimination of students based on caste.In addition, every institute must also appoint an ombudsperson who can hear students’ complaints as well. Such an ombudsperson has to be a retired vice-chancellor or a retired professor or a former district judge.While the SGRC has to submit a report within 15 days, the ombudsperson is given 30 days.The Telegraph report notes that under the earlier UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations of 2012, each higher educational institution must have an Equal Opportunity Cell (EOC) headed by an anti-discrimination officer, who should be a professor, to address the complaints of discrimination against students from the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and minority students.It is not clear if this cell has to be scrapped under the new rules, the report recognises.It quotes academics, like Delhi University professor N. Sukumar and former UGC head Sukhadeo Thorat, to note that the new rules will result in unnecessary confusion and that caste-based discrimination cannot be clubbed with general grievances against the admission and academic process.Sukumar noted that already existing mechanisms of appointing an anti-discrimination officer and setting up SC-ST cells are not being implemented properly.“These rules seek to dilute the existing norms,” Thorat said.Caste-based discrimination in higher educational institutes of India continues to rear its head. Most recently, the death by suicide of IIT Bombay student Darshan Solanki, who belonged to a Dalit community, has led to questions on systemic and wilful ignorance towards caste issues within campuses of even elite institutions in India.