A deeper look into the departments these students belonged shows that there was no faculty who belonged to these communities present there. RTI data collected by the APPSC (Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle) IIT Bombay clearly shows that there was no faculty in the mathematics department of IIT Delhi who belonged to SC/ST community. The same is true for department of chemical engineering of IIT Bombay which Darshan Solanki belonged to. RTI Data collected by APPSC also shows that reservation is violated in faculty composition of all IITs. In IIT Delhi, only 2% of faculty are SC, 1% ST, and 7% OBC. The remaining 90% positions are filled by savarnas. Same is the case for IIT Bombay where 94% are savarnas, with just 2% OBC, 3% SC, and 1% ST. With these institutions blatantly violating constitutional provisions and neither the government nor the courts are holding them accountable, how can we ensure safe, diverse, and inclusive spaces for our students?

On July 10, 2023, the honourable President of India, Droupadi Murmu stated that students’ suicides are a matter of concern and educational institutions should make it their priority to protect and support students against stress, humiliation, or neglect in their campuses. On February 25, the honourable Chief Justice of India, D Y Chandrachud also lamented the lack of recognition of discrimination and harassment present in these institutions by the administration and pointed to their lack of empathy.

We cannot expect “empathy” for marginalised students in these institutions where even faculty from these communities are not allowed to work without hindrance, in peace. Professor Vipin Veetil who belongs to OBC community was humiliated and had to resign because he raised his voice against the administration of IIT Madras dominated by savarnas for their discriminatory attitudes and continuing elevation of only savarnas to administrative positions such as deans and heads of department. Despite calls by the government to fill the backlog vacancies for SC/ST/OBC faculties in all IITs, in “mission mode recruitment”, none of these institutes have filled these vacancies despite getting more than 100 applicants for each post.

Most IITs demand post-doctoral (Post-Doc) research experience as a necessary qualification for faculty recruitment. But none of the IITs implement reservation in Post-Doc appointments. In an RTI response to APPSC, IIT Bombay admitted that they do not implement reservation in Post-Doc admissions, and also accepted that there was no rule that exempted Post-Doc appointments from reservation. Post-Doc admissions happen mostly through academic networks dominated by faculty from among the savarna caste, where they recommend that their students to other faculty in different institutes. Students coming from Dalit Bahujan Adivasi (DBA) communities without any cultural and social capital find themselves outside these networks and lose the chance to avail of these positions entirely.

In such institutions dominated by savarnas, the entire culture is designed to ensure that students coming from marginalised communities find it difficult to grow, to survive. The discrimination starts from the process of admission where the savarna faculty ensure that seats reserved for SC ST OBC students remain unfilled, after which they bring more savarna students in their place.

PhD Admission data collected by APPSC IIT Bombay from 2016-2023 shows that despite having thousands of applicants from among the SC/ST/OBC categories, none of the IITs have taken the required number of students mandated by reservation norms. Even after raising these issues for the past three years, in 2023, IIT Bombay denied 80 seats that rightfully belonged to SC/ST/OBC students despite having 3079 applicants and admitted 95 more savarna students, more than the allowed limit for PhD. One department in IIT Bombay, Centre for Technology Alternatives for Rural Areas (CTARA) has not admitted a single ST student in last 9 years. If we comb through the PhD data from among all the IITs, we will find same pattern everywhere.

Even when students from DBA (Dalit-Bahujan-Adivasi (communities somehow get admission inside these campuses, the dominant savarna culture and anti-reservation sentiment that is prevalent will work in tandem to ostracise and alienate them. The savarna students, staff and faculty openly taunt the DBA students and harass them on a day-to-day basis makes their lives a living hell throughout their course.

In a survey conducted by the SC/ST Cell at IIT Bombay, in February 2022 — a year before the death of Darshan Solanki, students had shared accounts of the constant harassment and discrimination they face daily. Students are marked by asking their ranks when they step into the campus which discloses their category. The survey revealed that one in three students was asked his/her rank by fellow students in a bid to know their caste identity. The savarna students exclude SC/ST students from their groups and even when clubbed together, deliberately avoid, or discards their ideas and opinions in group discussions. Casteist slurs are often hurled at students, and even cases of untouchability, where students avoid touching water bottles belonging to them were reported. Even after having this data on the ways and practices of how students are facing casteism, the administration of IIT Bombay did nothing to protect the students and sensitize the savarnas. They did not just ignore the issues, the Director of IIT Bombay shamelessly claimed that there is no caste discrimination on campus, just the day after Darshan’s death.

When an anti-reservation Facebook post by the head counsellor of IIT Bombay was reported to the administration in June 2022, they ignored it and took no action. Further enquiry by APPSC showed that there were no SC ST Counsellors. The counsellors were not caste aware and discarded the casteist harassment faced by SC ST students as “just inside their head” further worsening students’ mental health and denied the presence of caste discrimination in campus.

APPSC filed a case against the administration’s inaction to the National SC/ ST commission who called out the director, IIT Bombay and ordered them to remove the counsellor and appoint new counsellors from SC ST communities. Even now, the administration of IIT Bombay has not complied with these orders and they have not removed the counsellor who harbours anti-reservation sentiments. These actions by the administration shows their disregard to the mental health of DBA students in campus.

None of the IITs have a proper functioning SC/ST cell. According to the RTI filed by APPSC IIT Bombay, only two IITs out of 23 allocate funds for these cells, only three have allotted rooms and only five have conducted any events. The existence of these cells has only been mentioned by 12 IITs on their websites. These cells exist as just namesakes and does not address the issues of SC/ST students, does not oversee the proper implementation of reservation, not does it conduct any sensitization process for their students.

Unless we hold these institutes accountable and force them to take in more faculty and students from within the DBA communities, enforce democratic decision-making and break the dominance of savarnas, these spaces will never be either safe, peaceful or productive for marginalised students.

Views and opinions expressed in this article is solely that of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views or position of SabrangIndia and this site.

[1] Privileged castes

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The post Indian Institutes of Savarnas: Graveyards for Marginalised Students appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The data speaks clearly. According to the figures produced by the Union Education Ministry,  23 IITs (Institutes of Technology), 25 IIITs, 7 IISERs (Institutes of Science and Research, Technology), 20 IIMs (Institutes of Management), 32 NITs (Institutes of Technology)and 1 IISc (Institutes of Science). Out of these as many as 19 IITs, 14 IIITs, 7 IISER, 1 IISc, 20 IIMs and 26 NITs have SC/ST students’ cells. This accounts for 80 percent of all institutes. Yet a high 67 suicides were recorded in these institutes over the past years.

Dr Subhas Sarkar, the Minister of State for Education told the Lok Sabha on March 20 that out of the 108  Central Institutions of Higher Education, 87 have SC/ST Cells for assistance of students belonging to these communities. The remaining institutes, the Ministry states, have set up mechanisms such as Equal Opportunity Cell, Student Grievance Cell, Student Grievance Committee, Student Social Club, Liaison officers, Liaison Committee etc.

The question was put by S Venkatesan [CPI (Marxist)] who questioned about the reported suicides of students belonging to Scheduled Castes (SCs)/Scheduled Tribes (STs) in Central Institutions of Higher education and how many of these institutes have SC/ST Cells.

Of the total deaths by suicide,  during the last five years, 33 suicide cases from IITs, 24 cases from NITs and 4 cases from IIMs have been reported from student belonging to the SC/ST community, said the Ministry.

According to the testimony given by the Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle (APPSC) of IIT Bombay, it was a long struggle to get the IIT institutes to establish a SC/ST cell in the IITs. A struggle which had begun in September 2014, after Aniket Ambhore, a 22 year old fourth year B. Tech student of IIT Bombay, died from falling from a hostel building on the campus at IIT Bombay [13]. As per their narrative, it was due to their consistent struggles that a special cell was established in IITs. It took them 7 years to set up the SC/ST Cell on the campus. These SC/ST Students Cell are supposed to addresses academic and non-academic issues and complaints received from students belonging to the SC and ST birth categories, which could be scholarship issues, opportunity issues or any other guidance.

That there is a structural bias in operation appears more than clear.

In 2022, the APPSC had complained to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) that the head counsellor at the Student Wellness Centre (SWC) on the Mumbai campus had signed a public petition to end caste-based reservation and posted about it on social media. The Ministry told the House that the Head Counsellor was removed, and a new In-Charge for Student Wellness Centre has been appointed. “The institute has initiated the recruitment of one counsellor each from the SC and ST communities, so that students can approach them for their grievance,” the Ministry said.

The complete answer may be read here:

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A 3rd year civil engineering student at Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Lokesh Meena aged 20 years committed suicide for no apparent reason by walking 20 kilometers from the campus and throwing himself before a moving train. Meena was missing from Radha Krishnan Hall since Sunday morning. After the matter was reported to the hostel warden in the evening by his friends a search ensued.

The news was published by the national daily on the first anniversary of Dalit Research Scholar, Rohith Vemula's death.

Since morning however, friends of Meena had tried to locate him at various classrooms, hostels and even canteens. But after failing to find him out, the matter was reported to the warden. Immediately a complaint was lodged at Hijli police outpost. A team of team officials started a search operation. Around evening a body was recovered from the railway tracks between Jakpur and Madpur.

The institute officials along with police reached the Kharagpur sub-divisional hospital and identified the body of Lokesh. The student was a resident of Dhasa district in Rajasthan, Digheria village.

Father of Lokesh – Rammpal Meena was informed by the IIT officials. He took a flight to Kolkata and reached the campus on Monday morning. He identified his son.

A post mortem was conducted on the body which was later handed over to the family.

Kharagpur GRP informed that the incident had taken place on Sunday around 8am. “We got an information around 9:30. A loco engine which was moving on the middle line mowed him down as Lokesh jumped before the moving train. The engine driver informed the railway staff at Jakpur station. We then rushed to the spot,” said a senior GRP official.

A police team who interrogated friends of Lokesh were informed that the student was suffering from anxiety and depression. “We have been told that Lokesh was detected with Tuberculosis and also had other health issues. We have also got the information that the student had spoken to someone at length just before committing suicide. We are now trying to speak to his father who has already arrived in the Kharagpur campus. Now we are trying to find out if any personal loss or family affair was the triggering point for Lokesh to end his life,” added another senior police official.

SP Bharati Ghosh said that a student had committed suicide. “The local Kharagpur town police station has ended an investigation. The GRP is also conducting a separate inquiry,” added SP Ghosh.

Director of IIT-Kharagpur, Partha Pratim Chakraorty said it was a very sad day for the institute. “Lokesh was a good student and didn’t have any issue related to academics. Also the friends didn’t inform us about any apparent depression or signs of anxiety,” said Chakraborty. “We have a counselling centre at IIT-Kharagpur which is a first of its kind among the higher education institutes. The centre has intervened many a times and ensured that students get back to their usual self, leaving all anxiety behind. Unfortunately in this case they couldn’t get time to meet Lokesh,” added the director.
 

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