UGC mandates universities to establish EOCs

Hyderabad: The University Grants Commission has issued a sweeping new regulation mandating higher educational institutions to establish Equal Opportunity Centres (EOCs) in every university and college across the country.

These centres are designed to eliminate discrimination based on religion, race, caste, gender, place of birth, or disability, and to ensure that all stakeholders, students, faculty and staff enjoy equal rights and opportunities.

The UGC said that the EOC will serve as the institutional hub for monitoring equity-related policies, guiding disadvantaged groups, and promoting diversity on campuses. They will provide academic, financial and social counselling, coordinate with civil society and legal aid authorities, and encourage cultural inclusion. Where colleges lack sufficient faculty strength to set up their own centres, the affiliating university’s centre will take responsibility.

Each centre must house an Equity Committee chaired by the institution’s head, such as the Vice-Chancellor or Principal. The committee will include senior faculty members, a non-teaching staff representative, civil society experts, and student representatives chosen for academic or extracurricular excellence.

Representation from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, women, and persons with disabilities is mandatory. The committee will meet at least twice a year to review complaints and monitor actions taken, with members serving two-year terms and student invitees serving one-year terms.

The regulations also introduce equity squads—mobile units tasked with monitoring sensitive areas of the campus and reporting incidents of discrimination. Alongside them, every department, hostel, library, or facility must designate at least one Equity Ambassador. These ambassadors will act as nodal officers for equity-related programmes and immediately report violations, serving as visible symbols of inclusion within their units.

Following these regulations coming into effect, institutions are now under a clear duty to eliminate discrimination in all forms, promote equity among stakeholders, and protect the interests of individuals without prejudice to caste, community, religion, language, ethnicity, gender, or disability. Heads of institutions are empowered to ensure strict compliance with these norms, making them directly accountable for the enforcement of equity standards. The apex higher educational regulator said that transparency is a cornerstone of the new framework. Equal Opportunity Centres must publish biannual reports by January and July each year, detailing demographic composition of students and staff, equity initiatives undertaken, and actions on complaints. These reports will be made available on institutional websites, ensuring public accountability and scrutiny.

The regulations replace the earlier 2012 norms and align with the National Education Policy 2020, which emphasised full equity and inclusion as the foundation of educational decision-making. By embedding Equal Opportunity Centres, Equity Committees, Squads, and Ambassadors into the structure of higher education institutions, the UGC has taken a decisive step toward building campuses where diversity is celebrated and discrimination finds no place.