Karnataka High Court Urges Universities to Implement Mental Health and Anti-Discrimination Policies
Last Updated on October 17, 2024 by NewsDesk SLC
A single judge Justice Suraj Govindaraj appreciated the steps taken by Azim Premji University in formulating and implementing policies: The court said that neither the central nor the state government nor the respective universities nor the University Grants Commission (UGC) had formulated any policy in this regard,
“The concerned authorities would also be requested to take note of the policy now formulated by the respondent Nos. 1 to 3 (Azim Premji University) and improve it, for example by inculcating the interests and concerns of differently abled students etc. mandatory for all universities and colleges to have similar policies, if not formulated individually, at least by applying the policy formulated by the organization/body concerned uniformly across all educational institutions.
It subsequently directed the National Council for Transgender Persons and the Union of India through the Ministry of Social Justice to urgently address this pressing issue and formulate and implement necessary policies in this regard. The development comes after a former student of the university approached the court to direct the university to develop appropriate guidelines for mental health counselling on campus and implement a campus policy for transgender persons under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2019 .
The mental health policy formulated and implemented by Azim Premji University applies to all students enrolled in credit programs at the University, including students who identify as LGBTQ+ and students with disabilities.
