The UGC has asked all universities to furnish data on grievance redress mechanisms following a directive from Delhi High Court in a case of student suicide.

Educationists have termed the UGC action “merely ritualistic” and pointed out that the cases would not stop unless the government conducts micro-level analysis and takes follow-up steps.

A division bench of Delhi High Court of Justices Pratibha M. Singh and Amit Sharma issued an order on September 9 to direct the UGC and the department of higher education under the ministry of education (MoE) to issue a circular to all higher educational institutions to constitute grievance redress committees within two weeks.

The case, dating back seven years, relates to the suicide of a student of Amity Law School.

N. Sukumar, a professorof political science at Delhi University, said: “Students face stress because of caste-based discrimination, pooracademic performance,failure to get jobs in campus placements because of a decline in jobs, or family disputes. The government, UGC and the institutions needto analyse every possiblereason and decide on actions to address each issue. Asking for data on the grievancecommittees is more of aritualistic action.”