UGC seeks details of activities of EOCs in varsities

In the backdrop of outrage over the suicide by a Dalit scholar in Hyderabad University, the UGC has sought details of activities undertaken by Equal Opportunities Centres (EOCs) set up by the institutions for the welfare of "disadvantaged" sections.
UGC Secretary Jaspal S Sandhu in a letter to the VCs of all varsities sought details of activities of the EOCs, saying the regulatory body wanted to create a database of activities pertaining to redressal of grievances of the "marginalised or disadvantaged" sections presented before these centres.
Sandhu said the Indian society is characterised by social divisions and these inequalities are barriers to access to educational resources to the disadvantaged sections of the society.

The disadvantaged sections of the society include Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes (non-creamy layer), women, minorities and differently-abled persons, he added.
He added that UGC had recommended to the universities and colleges to set up EOCs to sensitise universities and colleges about the problems of marginalised sections and to monitor the various schemes for their welfare.
After Rohith Vemula's suicide in Hyderabad, the HRD Ministry had said it would initiate several steps to address problems faced by socially, educationally and economically disadvantaged students.