Bare Act Provision:
6. Equity Helpline:
(1) Every HEI shall establish and operate an ‘Equity Helpline’ that will function round the clock.
Provided that if the equity helpline of a college is not functional for any reason, the equity helpline of the affiliating university shall be accessible to the stakeholders of that college.
(2) The Equity Helpline shall be accessible to any stakeholder in distress owing to any discrimination-related incident.
(3) Identity of stakeholder reporting and violation of equity shall be kept confidential if requested by the informant.
24/7 Operational Requirement
Regulation 6(1) provides for operational requirement. This section mandates that every higher education institution must set up and run a dedicated Equity Helpline that stays active 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It ensures that help is always available, regardless of the time. There is also a backup plan included. If a college’s own helpline stops working for any reason, the students and staff of that college have the right to call the helpline of the university they are affiliated with instead.
Accessibility for Those in Distress
Regulation 6(2) provides for Accessibility for Those in Distress. The helpline is specifically designed to be a direct resource for any person on campus, whether a student, teacher, or staff member, who is feeling distressed due to a discrimination-related incident. It acts as an emergency point of contact for individuals who need immediate support or want to report an urgent problem. But as the regulation specifically provides for depraved classes only, no helpline is there for general category stakeholders. There are lots of agitation against general category castes in universities like Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Confidentiality of the Information
Regulation 6(3) provides for confidentiality of the information. This clause addresses the safety and privacy of the person reporting a problem. If the person who calls the helpline asks to remain anonymous, the institution is legally required to keep their identity a secret. This is intended to encourage people to speak up about equity violations without fearing that their names will be leaked or that they will face social or academic backlash.
References
1. Constitution of India, Articles 14, 21, and 22.
2. UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2012.
3. National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
4. Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India – Principles of Natural Jusitce
5. State of Madras v. Champakam Dorairajan – the balance of fundamental rights.
6. Dr. Ashok Kumar Makkar, ‘Investigation under Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989): Judicial Trends’, Journal of Advances and Scholarly Researches in Allied Education, E-ISSN: 2230-7540, Volume 16, Issue No. 4, Mar 2019, Pages 905 – 917 (12)
7. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989
8. Abhinav Sekhri, ‘Article 22 — Calling Time On Preventive Detention’, INDIAN J. CONST. L,
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