Ghazanfar Abbas, IndiaTomorrow.net
New Delhi, March 16: Days after the suicide of Jawaharlal Nehru University’s Dalit research scholar Muthukrishnan Jeevanantham, Dalit academicians have demanded implementation of the “Thorat Committee” recommendations in order to address discrimination at campus against students belonging to marginalized communities like Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs). Some students have also come out to speak about their caste discrimination experiences.
Expressing grief over Muthukrishnan’s demise, Prof. Hemlata Mahishwar from Jamia Millia Islamia said: It is really sad that these students who get admissions in premier institutions after tough competition are compelled to take such extreme steps.
“Had Rajini Krish (Facebook name of Muthukrishnan Jeevanantham), who did four attempts to get admission in JNU, come to commit suicide. What is the reason that the reservation which should have developed equality amongst us resulted in violence and revolt,” she asked while speaking on ‘Social Discrimination in Higher Educational Institutions’ at the Constitution Club here on Wednesday.
“The recommendations of Prof. Thorat Committee should be implemented. Moreover, in all the institutions, a sincere environment should be developed considering all the facts,” she demanded.
Dr. Ratan Lal, faculty in Delhi University said: “From Rohith to Rajini – these are not just incidents; these are signals about how oppressive- Brahminical dominance is suppressing people everywhere. Such suicides are not the suicides; they are the outcomes of institutional oppression.”
“Are social justice, secularism and gender equality just election USP,” he asked.
Dr. Hansraj Suman, another faculty member from Delhi University, raised another issue regarding Rajiv Gandhi fellowship.
“Rajiv Gandhi fellowship has not been given to Dalit students for last two years due to which Dalit students are feeling much insecurity. This should also be addressed,” he said.
(L-R, Prof. Hemlata Mahishwar, CPI leader Ani Raja, Dr. Hansraj Suman, Writer Anita Bharti addressing press conference on 15th March, 2017 at Constitution Club of India, New Delhi)
On the occasion, some Dalit students shared their experiences about caste discrimination at campus.
Dalit Research Scholars share their experiences about caste discrimination
Govardhan Singh, Ph.D. student, JNU said: “When I qualified entrance I got 49 marks in written exam. I had already cleared NET-JRF through English medium. I answered almost all questions asked to me in the interview. And when I asked one of the teacher there about my performance, he said it was good and I would get at least 15 marks out of 30. Luckily I got admission on the basis of marks I got in written exam but in interview I got just 3 marks.”
“When I started my PhD, my guide cancelled my synopsis draft 16 times. And it was also said to me that since I belong to a particular community I don’t have talent to do PhD. Then to get my synopsis cleared, I defended myself in all presentations while there is a big role of guide to help the students facing any issue,” he further told.
Bal Gangadhar Bagi, another research scholar at JNU said: “When any student from Dalit or Adivasi community appears in the interview, teachers ask questions like – What is your full name? What is the full name of your father? Do you like Marx most or Ambedkar? And other questions on Gandhi, so to identify whether the student is a Marxist, Ambedkarite, Gandhian, leftist or rightist.”
The Thorat Committee had made some recommendations to check such discriminations and also help students from those communities through remedial classes at campus.
Thorat committee recommendations
The Thorat Committee, the first ever committee constituted to study caste discrimination in higher education sector, had submitted its report in 2011. Under the chairmanship of Professor Sukhadeo Thorat, (former chairman, University Grants Commission (UGC)), the committee had made some recommendations to uplift the status of students and teachers belonging to marginalized sections.
It had recommended remedial support to improve fluency in English and social and communication skills by providing coaching classes through setting up equal opportunity cell. The cell was also to provide coaching classes to help students qualify the National Eligibility Test. The committee also proposed adequate hostels and free tuition facility to the students of marginalized communities.
The committee also recommended providing research grant and additional capacity development and training to teachers belonging to SCs.
Muthukrishnan’s suicide
Muthukrishnan Jeevanantham, 27, a Dalit MPhil student at JNU committed suicide in his friend’s room in Munirka Vihar locality near the JNU campus on Monday.
Three days before committing suicide, he had expressed his distress over inequality in his last Facebook post on 10th March with reference to the May 2016 UGC notification for admission in M.Phil. and Ph.D. at central universities.
“When equality is denied everything is denied. There is no Equality in M.Phil. or Ph.D. admission, there is no equality in viva voce, there is only denial of equality. Denying Prof. Sukhadeo Thorat recommendation, denying students protest in ad-block, denying the education of the marginals,” Muthukrishnan wrote.
Before JNU, MuthuKrishnan, a resident of Salem district in Tamil Nadu, was a student at the University of Hyderabad (HCU) where Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula had committed suicide in January 2016.
UGC Notification about M.Phil./Ph.D. Admission and Students’ Objections
As per the UGC gazette notification of May 2016 for the admission in M.Phil/PhD in central universities, the final merit list for admissions will be based on the marks obtained in viva-voce and the written entrance test will be qualifying only. It also limited the intake of M.Phil. and Ph.D. students under each professor and assistant professor.
Students are apprehended that if this notification is implemented there will not just be a massive cut in seats for M.Phil/PhD., the students will also face discrimination on various backgrounds too.
The JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) said this was anathema to what was proposed by the Abdul Nafey Committee, which had recommended a reduction in weightage in viva voce (interview) from 30 per cent to 15 per cent.
Since the notification was implemented at JNU in Dec last year, students have been protesting against it and demanding its roll-back.
Negligible presence of SC/ST faculty in central academic institutions
It is not that only students face discrimination on caste basis, there is negligible presence of SC/ST faculty in central academic institutions – maybe because of such discrimination.
This social imbalance between different socio-economic groups and marginalized communities is found in various central universities and institutes of higher learning.
For example, there are 43 central universities in the country. None of the Vice Chancellors is from the SC community and there is just one VC from ST.
Last month, Sharad Yadav, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) from JDU, had raised concern over the negligible representation of SC, ST and OBC communities in central universities.
While speaking in the Rajya Sabha, he said that there were only 9 professors from SCs among 100 professors at JNU while none from STs and OBCs.
A recent report says that presence of faculty members belonging to SC/ST and OBC at Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) is almost negligible.
Doctoral student Siddharth Joshi and assistant professor Deepak Malghan from the Centre for Public Policy – IIM Bangalore, approached all 20 IIMs through RTI petitions and found that there are only 2 faculty members belonging to SC category among 233 faculty members in six IIMs namely IIM Indore, Kozhikode, Rohtak, Raipur, Ranchi and Kashipur. Four institutions – IIM-Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta and Lucknow said they could not collect faculty data based on social groups.
Also Read:
When Equality is Denied Everything is Denied, said JNU Dalit scholar days before suicide
Negligible presence of SC/ST faculty members at IIMs
JNU students protest at HRD Ministry over UGC admission notification
Massive protest march by JNU teachers, students against UGC admission policy
