Diversity statistics unambiguously point to a large, chronic and unaddressed deficit in the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). Affirmative reservation policy for the weaker sections of society was introduced at the national level in 1953, however, the policy was implemented in the Centrally-funded IITs only two decades later upon the recommendation of the KT Chandy Committee of the IIT Council. Arguably, it was enforced due to the government’s declared commitment to eradicate poverty, through its Garibi Hatao programme.
Fifty years have passed since then, which is a good enough period of time to assess how the Central government’s reservation policy and the IITs’ implementation machinery have fared in the constitutionally mandated objective of uplifting weaker sections by improving their representation in higher education.
Thin at the top
IITs have been providing reservations at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels through JEE and GATE entrance examinations, respectively. However, as we go up the scholarly hierarchy, the representation of weaker sections, particularly SCs and STs gets thin. In the PhD scholars pool, for instance, their presence is negligible, as the IITs have been less forthcoming in providing reservations at the doctorate level. This pool is a critical one for faculty positions as evident from the tepid success of the Mission Mode recruitment drive. Consequently, an abysmal 3-4% of the faculty in IITs are from the marginalised sections compared to their 25% population share (taking only SCs and STs). Almost all of these faculty positions are entry-level and the representation in the Professor rank — who form the highest academic body of the IITs called Senate — is nearly nil.
The diversity shortfall in faculty positions is 80% and spans over five decades or 10 terms of a Union government, clearly suggesting that the diversity deficit in IITs is chronic and has remained politically unaddressed. What’s more, it has adversely impaired the educational upliftment of generations of SC and ST students in the country. At the current rate, it may take 200 years more to achieve parity in faculty positions in the IITs. Lawmakers would not have this time frame in mind to fulfil the Constitutional obligations of our country towards a quarter of the national population.
The core values of equality and dignity enshrined in our Constitution, the supreme law of the land, are still elusive for SCs and STs in the IITs.
Discrimination is blatant…
On April 3, 2003, while I was studying at IIT Kanpur, a senior professor had put out a public notice titled “Academic registration of Back Loggers and Born Back Loggers,” the latter term alluding to SC/ST students. The professor would make all SC/ST students stand separately in his labs, openly discriminate against SC/ST students by asking their castes, and humiliate them for availing reservation, as well as ridiculing their parents’ backgrounds. He would ask SC/ST students facing any academic problems to approach the government as they have come to IIT via reservation. Due to ‘grade drop’ and ‘course drop’ fears, no victim filed any complaint against this professor, but it was an open secret and the administration also knew about it. No action was ever taken against him despite glaring evidence.
On February 1, 2018, a group of four senior professors at IIT Kanpur openly ridiculed the appointment of an SC faculty — Prof. Subrahmanyam Saderla — calling it a ‘curse on the institute’ and also making casteist slurs at him. When Prof. Saderla filed a complaint against these four senior professors, they filed vindictive counter-complaints and the Senate of IIT Kanpur, composed of professor-rank faculty members, passed a near-unanimous resolution to revoke the PhD of Prof. Saderla. The matter went to the Supreme Court which advised the parties to “amicably reconcile the differences”.
On April 25, 2021, during an online class, a professor at IIT Kharagpur abused SC/ST students calling them “bloody bastards” and challenging them to make a complaint. On July 1, 2021, an assistant professor resigned from his post alleging caste-based discrimination that he faced at IIT Madras since he joined the institute.
…And subtle, casual, every day.
These instances of blatant caste discrimination that I have recounted are just the tip of the iceberg; most discrimination and exclusion occur casually, privately and with subtlety in social and academic encounters that take place every day. Most of the SC/ST students still find it challenging to break into the class project groups, often end up living on the edges of the hostel wings, eating separately from others in the mess, and routinely face language and social barriers to participate and lead social and extracurricular activities.
This results in ghettoization and the alienation of SC/ST students in an unhealthy and closed social and academic space. The stress of the cut-throat peer culture in the IITs established by the students coming from socially and economically privileged backgrounds pushes the precarious mental health of the SC/ST students in IITs to a fragile place.
Death by suicide, death by discrimination
IIT Bombay’s internal surveys from February and June 2022 showed extensive caste discrimination at play on the campus. IIT Bombay’s Darshan Solanki, the first-year SC student from Gujarat, who died by suicide in February earlier this year, brought the spotlight back on caste-based discrimination. Darshan, who did his schooling in the Gujarati medium, faced humiliation and social isolation from batchmates, his parents said. (Police complaint filed by parents attached). He was made to feel inferior as he found it difficult to adjust to the English-speaking culture on the campus. His father, who studied until grade 7, is a plumber by profession. Even Aniket Ambhore, an SC student from Maharashtra who died by suicide on September 4, 2014, resulted in a complaint of caste-based discrimination in IIT Bombay filed by his parents.
IIT Madras sees the highest number of suicide deaths by students in any IIT, according to news reports. A large number of these preventable deaths are of students from the weaker sections of the society.
In the year 1998, the government issued guidelines to set up SC/ST Cells in all the centrally funded educational institutes to ensure that no caste-based discrimination takes place in the publicly funded institutions, diversity and inclusion thrive on the campuses and that there would be a statutory grievance redressal mechanism in case of complaints. The Cell is mandated to cover students, faculty and staff. These cells report to the Parliament of India via the Standing Committee on the Welfare of SC/STs.
The compliance by IITs with these government guidelines meant to protect the marginalised sections of society is extremely poor, if at all. Often, no mandate is given to these cells by the IITs to function effectively. Many have not appointed independent and fully dedicated liaison officers nor are there any publicly available performance reports to scrutinise their effectiveness. It is unsurprising that aggrieved students take recourse to suicide due to this lack of institutional support.
Bridging the diversity deficit in faculty positions and PhD hiring in IITs must, therefore, be given an urgent priority as it would provide much-needed safe spaces and an organic institutional support to students who feel isolated and silently suffer subtle everyday biases in IITs. The improved diversity at the knowledge creation level will also motivate these students to realise their full potential and not succumb to the biases in the present setup.
Action must follow will
The National Education Policy 2020 lists equity and Inclusion in higher education as a goal, and further prescribes that all higher educational institutes, including IITs, to strictly enforce non-discrimination and anti-harassment rules and to provide socio-emotional and academic support and mentoring for such students belonging to the Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Group through suitable counselling and mentoring programmes.
However, the NEP remains silent on two critical issues: affirmative reservation policy, and representation of SCs and STs in PhDs and Faculty positions in IITs. Given the scale of the problem, there are some things that will indicate that the Union ministry of education, Niti Ayog and lawmakers are indeed intent to improve the situation of chronic diversity deficit.
Start by announcing a target year to achieve full parity in the diversity of the faculty positions in all the institutes of national importance, including IITs and IIMs, for the marginalised sections of the society. Follow that up with declaring a strategic roadmap, which could include introducing a centralised admissions and hiring agency to implement, monitor and achieve planned annual targets to accelerate diversity in PhD admissions and faculty hiring, thereby reducing bottlenecks due to biases at the institute level. A centralised agency could also proactively identify and nurture the talent pool at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels through targeted mentoring and overseas study scholarships. This will help build a strong pipeline for PhD scholars and faculty positions.
A centralised grievance redressal agency too, would help resolve complaints of any caste-based discrimination in admissions, recruitment, promotions, etc.
One of the main manifestations of caste-based discrimination is marks. Anonymise the JEE ranks above the top 200: This will help remove the direct role of the JEE rank in disclosing the social backgrounds of the students that make them vulnerable to acts of discrimination and exclusion in academics and hostels’ day-to-day affairs. At the same time, annual physical health and mental health screenings of undergraduates, postgraduates and PhD scholars are a must.
Incentivise student mentorship by alumni by recognising the payback role of the alumni in supporting the government in improving diversity. Conduct longitudinal studies of the talent pool and publish the baseline and end-line findings towards achieving the diversity targets.
The impact of caste discrimination permeates all aspects of a student’s life: from his interactions with his family back home to his wholesome development as a citizen of this country. It’s time the government takes systemic steps to address all these issues through law instead of guidelines, as institutes see the latter as optional.
