India, Nov. 7 -- The Union government's admission that it is contemplating setting up a committee to reconsider the University Grants Commission's (UGC) 2026 equity regulations will have significant social and political ramifications. But lost in the weeds of political expediency is the very real problem of bright young people from marginalised backgrounds being let down by prominent educational institutions, sometimes with tragic consequences.

The UGC norms came out of a top court petition by two mothers who lost their children to caste-based discrimination. The university regulator set up a panel that formulated the regulations, which went beyond the 2012 guidelines against discrimination. But almost immediately, the rules sparked prot...