CM Siddaramaiah announces Rohith Vemula Act in Karnataka
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said the Rohith Vemula (Protection of SC/STs from Caste Discrimination in Higher Educational Institutions) Act will be implemented in all government, private, and deemed educational institutions to tackle caste-based educational and social oppression.
The CM made the announcement while presenting the budget.
“The Rohith Vemula Act will be enacted to prevent atrocities on caste lines on students across all government, private, and deemed universities in the state,” Siddaramaiah said during his speech.
It comes a week after the state Cabinet discussed the draft of the anti-discrimination law named after Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula. During a Cabinet meeting on February 26, Ministers approved the draft bill. However, Home Minister G Parameshwara suggested that the draft be sent to the Directorate of Civil Rights Enforcement (DCRE) for its suggestions, according to TNM.
This also comes after the University Grants Commission had recently stalled the implementation of the amended University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2012. The new rules — which addressed caste, gender, and disability-based discrimination on campuses — were stalled by the Union government following the intervention of the Supreme Court, which said that the regulations were “vague and capable of misuse,” and after a campaign by upper-caste Hindus against the rule.
Named after Rohith Vemula, a PhD scholar at the University of Hyderabad who died by suicide on January 17, 2016, the proposed law aims to address caste-based discrimination and harassment faced by Dalits and Adivasis in higher educational institutions. Following Rohith’s death, which social justice movements described as an “institutional murder,” there was a wave of protests across India against casteism and discrimination on university campuses.
