Government and University Grants Commission, UGC, have taken several initiatives to check the incidents of harassment of all students including the Scheduled castes and Scheduled Tribes in higher educational institutions of the country. <br/><br/>In a written reply in Rajya Sabha, Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani said Central Universities are competent to take all administrative decisions including to prevent all kinds of harassment and discrimination against any section of students. <br/><br/>She said the UGC is giving financial assistance to all eligible Colleges and Universities to establish Equal Opportunity Centres in order to make the universities and colleges more responsive to the needs and constraints of the disadvantaged social groups. The minister said UGC has also approved establishment of 126 SC and STs Cells in various Universities to safeguard their interest.