IndiaTomorrow.net,
New Delhi, March 18: In the wake of the suicide of Muthukrishnan Jeevanantham, a Dalit research scholar at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), both academicians and students are demanding 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).
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.
— Coaching classes to help students qualify the National Eligibility Test.
— Adequate hostels and free tuition facility to the students of marginalized communities.
— Research grant and additional capacity development and training to teachers belonging to SCs.
