All Colleges, Varsities Must Form Equity Panels: Centre

• UGC mandates all higher education institutions form Equity Committees to ensure inclusivity and support marginalized groups.
• Equity Committees will develop policies to address socio-economic, gender, and caste-related inequalities in education.
• The initiative aims to align India’s higher education with global standards of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The Union Ministry of Education has brought out a new directive under which it is mandatory for all colleges offering higher education in the country to constitute Equity Committees. This is part of the new norms brought out by the University Grants Commission, or UGC, to ensure inclusiveness.

The aim of this new framework is to have each institution have a committee specifically focused on addressing equity-related issues.

These committees will develop policies that will support marginalized groups, including students from low socio-economic backgrounds, women, and students from underrepresented communities. This initiative is intended to create an inclusive and supportive academic environment for every student, regardless of their background, to be able to achieve success equally.

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Committees on Equity will evaluate and implement strategies to eliminate barriers to education and provide equitable access to academic programs and resources.

They will include monitoring the representation of diverse groups (including but not limited to) in faculty recruitment, student admissions and scholarships,They will work on addressing issues pertaining to caste, gender, and socio-economic inequalities in order to create a more equitable and just educational system.

This decision by UGC is also a part of their larger initiative to ensure that their structure regarding inclusive education in India is strengthened. These committees are also expected to play an important part in finding solutions to problems arising due to social and economic disparities in education.

This regulation is also seen as a step toward aligning India's higher education institutions with global standards of diversity and inclusion.