ACDR has learned of a worrying circular that has been sent to the heads of all centrally funded higher educational institutions by the ministry of education. The ministry asks these institutions to review employees
periodically and determine their suitability for continued service by checking:
1. doubtful integrity
2. ineffectiveness
3. conduct unbecoming of a government servant.
Last month, news of the death by suicide of first-year undergraduate Darshan Solanki at IIT Bombay was met with widespread protest in academic campuses across the country. While IIT Bombay’s internal probe committee concluded that there was no evidence of caste-based discrimination, a suicide note was found by the Special Investigation Team constituted by the Maharashtra government, which points to caste-based discrimination.
Readers — especially those on college campuses — interested in the issue are encouraged to consult websites such as Caste on Campus, which extensively document violations of reservation norms at IITs, or the statement from the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) which emphasises the institutional nature of caste discrimination at the IITs.
Read More »Monthly Update, March ‘23This month witnessed a spate of suicides at institutions of higher learning: IIT Madras, IIT Bombay, NIT Kozhikode, and IIIT Idupulapaya, in addition to another attempted suicide at IIT Madras. This is part of a worsening trend: between 2014–2021, more than 120 suicides have taken place at the IITs, IIMs, and Central Universities, and more than half of these were committed by students belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes. In response to the suicide of Darshan Solanki, a first-year undergraduate at IIT Bombay, the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has released a statement emphasising the institutionalised nature of caste discrimination at the IITs. The suicide of Stephen Sunny, a postgraduate student at IIT Madras sparked protests that underscored the discrimination that scholars from disadvantaged communities face.
A new report by the V-Dem Institute finds that India has less academic freedom today than it did ten years ago, echoing findings by Nandini Sundar and Gowhar Fazili a few years ago. We quote from their report:
Read More »Monthly Update, February ’23