The University Grants Commission has replaced “social exclusion” with “social inclusion” in the name of a scheme that promotes research on caste discrimination and B.R. Ambedkar’s philosophy, triggering charges of an agenda against the marginalised.

At a meeting in June, the higher education regulator decided to rename the scheme, Centres for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, as Establishment of Centre for the Study of Social Inclusion, two officials from two central universities said.

Academics and various groups working on issues of social justice have criticised the move, accusing the commission of trying to hide the reality of social exclusion at institutions and in society in general.

They said the government and the UGC felt troubled by the research carried out on social exclusion, and preferred to promote courses on Vedic studies and the Manusmriti instead.

One of the university officials who confirmed the renaming said that at the June meeting, the commission had argued that the expression “study of social inclusion” emphasised an intent to understand and address social exclusion.

“The UGC said the name change would lend a progressive outlook (to the scheme) and align it with global agendas like human rights and sustainable development goals. It would reflect a commitment to addressing social inequality,” the official said.

The centres for the study of social exclusion and inclusive policy had been started under the 11th five-year plan (2007-12) at 35 central and state government universities. Over the years, 11 of these centres have become defunct, the official said.

These centres’ mandate is to research, and teach research courses on, social exclusion. The decision to fund them used to be renewed from one plan period to the next. Since 2017, the UGC has been releasing the funds on a yearly basis.

Former UGC secretary R.K. Chauhan said that renaming a scheme serves the twin purposes of modifying it to suit the ideology of the government of the day and projecting it as a new scheme started by the present government.

“The ground situation is very bad for socially backward sections. Students (from these communities) are facing discrimination across institutions,” Chauhan said.

“Candidates from the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes are being declared ‘not found suitable’ for various positions at institutions and in the government. But the government and the UGC seem keen on painting a rosy picture that all is well.”

N. Sukumar, a professor of political science at Delhi University, said there was no justification for the name change. He said the government seemed keen on upholding the tradition of exclusivity by establishing the Centre for Hindu Studies and Vedic Studies.

In the last four years, a dozen central universities have started MA courses in Hindu Studies. Some of the universities have integrated part of the Manusmriti into various courses.

An email was sent to UGC chairman M. Jagadesh Kumar seeking the reasons for changing the scheme’s name. A response is awaited.