UGC New Rules Row: The University Grants Commission (UGC) recently made it compulsory to set up equity committees, equal opportunity centres and 24/7 grievance helplines by all higher education institutions to deal with discrimination complaints, especially for SC, ST and OBC students.
Bareilly City Magistrate Alankar Agnihotri has been suspended by the Uttar Pradesh government after he rendered his resignation from service in the wake of protest against government policies. Agnihotri has now been attached to the Shamli District Magistrate office.
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A 2019-batch Provincial Civil Service officer, Agnihotri claimed the new regulations of UGC could increase caste-based discontent and damage the academic environment. Agnihotri went on to associate his dissent to the recent Shankaracharya where seers and their followers were lathi-charged; saying actions of the government reflected an “anti‑Brahmin campaign”.
Ankit Tiwari, the division general secretary of the Kumhrawan district Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) along with 10 other BJP leaders submitted their resignations in protests of UGC laws.
In his resignation letter, Tiwari remarked that the BJP is moving away from Dr. Shayama Prasad Mukherjee and Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay’s objectives.
OBC Category Inclusion-Root of the Dispute
The new UGC guidelines notified the UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026 to curb caste-based discrimination in universities and colleges.
The new UGC rules include Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the category of caste discrimination. Many people and general category students believe that OBCs already receive advantages such as reservation and therefore including them in the category could be unfair to others.
Many believe that these regulations could be misused as the new UGC regulations don’t offer for action against frivolous complaints.
Many BJP leaders view that the new UGC rules are a betrayal of the party’s commitment to “merit”, “sabka saath, sabka vikas” and anti-appeasement politics.
How Will BJP Deal With Party Dissent?
BJP would like to contain the narrative through loyal party leaders and ministers with a no‑tolerance approach towards any public dissent. The suspension of Agnihotri sends a clear signal that open defiance, even from senior officers, would not be tolerated.