For the last two years, the Congress-led government of Karnataka has moved slowly on implementation of the Karnataka Rohith Vemula (Protection of SC/STs from Caste Discrimination in Higher Educational Institutions) Bill 2025. The legislation was a promise in the Congress manifesto for 2024 Lok Sabha polls and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had written to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in 2025 calling for enacting the law at the earliest.
The debate on the proposed law has again come to the forefront after the Supreme Court of India stayed the University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations 2026, followed by agitations both for and against the regulations. The Rohith Vemula Act in Karnataka was supposed to be implemented much before the UGC regulations, but is on the backburner.
Mavalli Shankar, State Convenor, Karnataka Dalit Sangharsha Samiti, said the Samiti plans to petition the Chief Minister this week, demanding enactment of the law in the upcoming budget session of the Karnataka legislature. “According to UGC statistics, atrocities against SC/ST students on campuses have increased by 118.4% in the last five years. These students need proper legal protection to pursue higher education with dignity, and the Rohith Vemula Bill 2025 is a solution to this issue. On the one hand, UGC regulations have been stayed, and, on the other, the Congress government in Karnataka is unnecessarily delaying enactment of the Rohith Vemula Act,” he said.
The debate over whether only SC and ST students should be brought under its ambit, or students from other oppressed communities should also be included under the purview of the law, has delayed its enactment, sources said.
Law to focus on SC-ST students
After the suicide of Rohith Vemula, a Dalit Ph.D. scholar at Hyderabad Central University, on January 17, 2016, due to caste-based discrimination, there was a clamour from students and parents for implementation of the Rohith Vemula Act to address discrimination against students from SC-ST communities in higher educational institutions.
A draft of the Bill prepared by the Law, Justice and Human Rights Department, Government of Karnataka, proposed to safeguard the right to education and dignity of Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), and minorities. It can be recalled that even the recent UGC Equity Regulations included all four communities under its ambit.
However, this has been opposed by Dalit groups vehemently. There are many differences between the discrimination faced by OBC and minority students, and the discrimination faced by SC/ST students. If necessary, separate laws should be enacted to prevent atrocities against OBC and minority students, or the anti-ragging laws should be further strengthened, they have argued.
In this regard, pro-Dalit organizations led by Minister Priyank Kharge have urged the government to implement the Rohith Vemula Act 2025 exclusively for SC and ST students.
“The Rohith Vemula Bill-2025 is still under discussion. The draft has been finalized. There have been many discussions with stakeholders, including the Campaign for Rohith Act team. We have decided to implement the Act only for SC/STs. In the meantime, the UGC has included OBCs in their recently implemented Act. Therefore, we aim to ensure that this law does not become redundant.,” said Dr. M.C. Sudhakar, Higher Education Minister, GoK.
Civil society draft
A civil society group, Campaign for Rohith Act, has submitted a draft of the Rohith Vemula Bill, prepared by legal experts and university professors, to the government. It is learnt that the government has considered most of the points in this bill in the final draft.
Although several rounds of discussions were held with Law Minister H.K. Patil, Higher Education Minister Dr. M.C. Sudhakar, Minister Priyank Kharge, and the Campaign for Rohith Act team, and the draft was finalized, the government is yet to table it in the legislature.
Back and forth
The draft Bill has now been sent to the Social Welfare Department for their opinion, following which the government will table the Bill, sources said.
“The draft has been prepared by the Law Department. The Higher Education Department has decided to seek the opinion of the Social Welfare Department on the draft. The framework for SC and STs is with the Social Welfare Department. Therefore, their opinion is necessary. It may come up for discussion during this Budget Session,” Minister Priyank Kharge told The Hindu.
Published – February 16, 2026 09:58 am IST
