Hyderabad: Telangana govt has begun drafting the Rohith Vemula Telangana (Prevention of Identity-Based Discrimination in Higher Education) Bill, 2026, and will study similar initiatives underway in Karnataka before finalising the legislation aimed at curbing discrimination in universities and colleges.At the first meeting of the cabinet sub-committee constituted to frame the law, chaired by deputy chief minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka on Thursday, Supreme Court advocate and social activist Disha Wadekar was invited for consultations to help ensure that the proposed legislation is legally robust and can withstand judicial scrutiny.Bhatti said the proposed law would be drafted after extensive consultations with political parties, student organisations and civil society groups. He directed officials to expedite the drafting process and prepare a comprehensive preliminary report detailing the provisions to be incorporated in the legislation.Recalling the death of research scholar Rohith Vemula at the University of Hyderabad, Bhatti said the incident had shaken not only Telangana but the entire country. He noted that Congress leaders, including Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, had backed student protests demanding justice.The deputy CM said the Revanth Reddy-led govt was fulfilling its promise to enact a law to prevent identity-based discrimination on campuses. Ministers D Sridhar Babu, N Uttam Kumar Reddy and Ponnam Prabhakar attended the meeting.
