Protests seeking an immediate rollback of the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) Regulations 2026 entered their third consecutive day on Thursday, spreading across Uttar Pradesh and several other states, with student bodies, social organisations and even members of the ruling party joining the agitation.
Protesters have also announced a Bharat bandh on February 1.
Watch | Calls for UGC rollback intensify as protests spread beyond Uttar Pradesh
In Lucknow, students under the banner of Chhatra Panchayat assembled at the Gandhi statue in Hazratganj, raising slogans such as “UGC Roll Back” and accusing the new regulations of being discriminatory. The protesters alleged that the rules, introduced in the name of equity, would deepen divisions on university campuses and unfairly impact general category students while overlooking economic hardship within the category.
Chhatra Panchayat president Shivam Pandey described the regulations as a “black law”, claiming they would vitiate the academic environment. “Students eat and study together without knowing each other’s surnames. This regulation is politically motivated and aimed at dividing campuses,” he said.
The agitation intensified across the state. In Prayagraj, students from multiple organisations gathered at the Chhatra Sangh Bhawan on the Allahabad University campus, alleging that the new UGC framework weakens the rights of general category students and lacks safeguards against false complaints.
In Varanasi, students from Banaras Hindu University and Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth warned of escalating protests if the regulations were not withdrawn. Police stopped demonstrators from entering the district headquarters, following which they staged a dharna.
Protesters questioned why proposed grievance redressal and equity committees mandate representation from OBC, SC-ST communities, women and persons with disabilities, but exclude members from the upper caste community. “If equality is the objective, representation must be inclusive of all sections,” a student said.
In Kanpur, students of Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology protested wearing black bands and carrying black flags, marching from Karpuri Hostel to Company Bagh crossing. Sit-ins were also reported from Deoria, where the protest was led by Bar Association president Pritam Mishra.
In Rae Bareli, BJP Kisan Morcha’s Salon mandal president Shyam Sundar Tripathi resigned in protest, calling the regulations “harmful” and “divisive” in his resignation letter to the Prime Minister and party leadership.
Meanwhile, a video from Kaushambi showing Savarna Army district head Abhishek Pandey writing a letter to the Prime Minister with his blood, terming the regulations a black law, went viral on social media, adding momentum to the growing agitation.