Page 16 - Guidelines to Provide Equitable Opportunity forthe SocioEconomically Disadvantaged Groups (SEDGs) in the HEI

INDICATIVE GLOSSARY

Definitions/ Key-terms
The definitions mentioned in these guidelines are under those appearing in the relevant Gazette
notifications, Government of India NEP 2020, and guidelines notified by the University Grants
Commission, unless the context otherwise requires, as under:

1. The Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Groups (SEDGs) are those who, for historical reasons
and the causes of their prevailing disadvantaged social, economic, educational, vocational,
and locational conditions, cannot have equal access to the various facilities and opportunities
available for higher education.

2. The category “Economically Weaker Section (EWS)” refers to those sections of society that are
not covered under the scheme of reservation for SC/ST/OBC and whose gross annual income
from all sources (as per the existing criteria) is below Rs.8 lakhs for the financial year preceding
the year of application for admission/recruitment.

3. The category “Other Backward Classes” refers to the class or classes of citizens who are socially

and educationally backward and are so determined and listed by the Central Government or by
State Governments in the respective list of OBCs.
4. As per the existing notification, the Creamy Layer status of an OBC student is determined

based on the income status of their parents. Hence, under the SEDGs, eligible OBC students
are those in the “non-Creamy layer,” which means the parents’ income of an OBC student has
been below Rs.8 lakhs per annum during the last three consecutive years. (Ref. DoPT O.M. No
36033/1.2013-Estt. (Res.) dated 13 September 2017 (which may be amended from time to
th
time).

5. “Persons with Disabilities” means a person with a long-term physical, mental, intellectual,
or sensory impairment which, in interaction with barriers, hinders a person’s complete and
adequate participation in society equally with others, as defined under the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities Act, 2016.

6. “Persons with benchmark Disabilities” means a person with not less than forty percent of a
specified disability where a specified disability has not been defined in measurable terms and includes
persons with disabilities where a specified disability has been defined in measurable terms, as certified by
the certifying authority.

7. “Scheduled Castes” means the Scheduled Castes, notified under Article 341 of the Constitution
of India.

8. “Scheduled Tribes” means the Scheduled Tribes, notified under Article 342 of the Constitution
of India.

9. “SEDGs Budget” means the separate budget generated by HEIs from their own sources/
CSR/Voluntary/Donations for the welfare and benefit of students belonging to SEDGs.

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University Grants Commission