1 Out Of 3 SC/ST Students Asked About Their Caste: IIT-Bombay 2022 Survey

388 SC/ST students had taken the survey, and many have described how they faced caste discrimination on campus.

Many students belonging to the SC/ST community have complained about “anti-reservation sentiment, especially among first-year students.”

(Illustration: The Quint/Deeksha Malhotra)

“Many general category students calling SC/ST students like ‘Oye bh***i… tumhaare paas toh ticket hai…’ by ticket they mean caste certificate. ‘Saale Ch****r’… kind of things almost every day.”

This is what a student had written as a response in a survey conducted by the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) Cell at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, in February 2022 -- a year before the death by suicide of 18-year-old Dalit student Darshan Solanki on campus.

Darshan's family had alleged that he faced caste discrimination at IIT-Bombay, a claim that was refuted by the elite institute. On 30 March, a First Information Report (FIR) under Section 3(2)(V) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and Section 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was filed at the Powai police station in Mumbai.  

The results of this internal survey, accessed by The Quint, were circulated by the Cell among students belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in February 2022. A total of 388 students, which is approximately 20 percent of the total SC/ST students on campus, have taken the survey, and many have described in detail the ways in which they faced caste discrimination on campus.

The survey also revealed that one in three students was asked his/her rank by fellow students in a bid to know their caste identity.     

Darshan’s death has opened a can of worms over alleged caste-based discrimination on campus. The Quint went through testimonies of students who come from marginalised communities at IIT-Bombay, and found out how discrimination manifests in overt ways, where casteist slurs are hurled at students belonging to marginalised communities, as well as covert ways where a student feels ostracised and alienated.  

What Has The Survey Revealed? 

The survey was conducted by the SC/ST Cell of IIT-Bombay in the form of a questionnaire and floated among students belonging to marginalised communities through a Google form. Nearly 70 percent of the 388 students who undertook the survey belonged to the Scheduled Caste communities, while the remaining were from the Scheduled Tribe communities. Of these, at least 65 percent were male students.  

Here are some observations from the survey: 

1. On being asked if anyone has hurled “caste/tribal slurs or abuses or discriminated against you on campus,” 83.5 percent students said ‘No’. 

2. 70.4 percent students said that they had not witnessed anyone else being discriminated against on campus, while 16.5 percent students said that had, in fact, witnessed such instances.  

3. Nearly 25 percent, or one in every four students, said that the fear of disclosing their identity has stopped them from joining an SC/ST forum or collective.  

4. 15.5 percent students said that they have faced mental health issues arising from caste-based discrimination.  

5. Nearly 37 percent students said that they were asked their JEE/GATE/JAM/(U)CEED rank by fellow students in campus in a bid to find out their (caste) identity.  

6. 26 percent students were asked their surnames with the intention of knowing their caste.  

7. 21.6 percent, or one in every five students, said that they feared backlash from the faculty if they talk back against caste discrimination. 

8. 31.2 percent, or one in every three students, said that they feel SC/ST Cell needs to do more to address casteism on campus.  

9. Nearly 25 percent of the 388 students, that is one in every four students, did not attend an English-medium school in class 10.  

10. Nearly 22 percent students are the first-generation graduates from their family. 

11. Nearly 36 percent students felt that open category students perceive their academic ability as ‘average’. This is in contrast to 51 percent SC/ST students perceiving the academic ability of open category students as ‘very good’. 

'Peers Ask Surname, I'm Not Comfortable With It. Makes Me Teary-Eyed': Student's Response in Survey

Many students belonging to the SC/ST community have complained about “anti-reservation sentiment, especially among first-year students.” Most of the students have claimed that it all starts from open category students asking either their JEE ranks or their surnames.  

“Starts from Day-1 here. You get asked your rank. That, to a great extent, determines people’s attitudes towards you. With time, you come across hostile anti-reservation debates – online and offline… Sometimes, you’d meet new people and you’d tell them your first name and often the response would be – what’s your surname? I don’t feel comfortable with it, almost makes me teary-eyed. But it feels like no one wants to understand the gravity of the situation,” a student wrote in the survey.  

Many students said that they felt excluded once their classmates found out about them belonging to a marginalised community.  

“Because of low rank, my friends don't discuss any subject with me. If I get in their discussion, they become quiet or leave the discussion. Our opinions are simply ignored,” a student wrote.

'They Do Not Like To Share The Room With Us': SC/ST Student Writes In Survey

A student also wrote that even though it’s a general rule to put up an Open Category (OC) student with one belonging to the SC/ST community, the latter “don’t like to share the room with us.”

Another student complained that OC students do not include them in their friend circle, or in group assignments in the lab, or accept their “friend requests on social media.” 

A common issue which surfaced in the survey was open category students taunting SC/ST students over the waiver in tuition fee.  

“Because of government policies, SC/ST students don't have to pay tuition fees irrespective of income. So, an OC student said to his friend who belongs to SC/ST community, ‘Aap to bade log ho, admission bhi aise ho gya aur fees bhi nhi dena padta, nice’,” a student recalled an incident from February 2020. 

'My Friends Share Casteist Memes On Social Media and WhatsApp': IIT-B Student

Several students have called out casteist memes and jokes being shared on WhatsApp and social media in the survey.  

“I have seen many of my friends sharing casteist memes/posts on social media and WhatsApp, including content against reservation. Some of my friends have openly said that they feel reserved category students waste taxpayers’ money. Such remarks in the open are very discomforting,” a student wrote.  

'An Invisible Boundary Or Tag': Student Writes On Exercises Which Inadvertently Give Out Caste Identity

Some students have pointed out systemic loopholes, which inadvertently end up giving out their caste identity. 

For instance, during placements, or any kind of data gathering process wherein a common sheet is shared among all batchmates, and a column called category is mandatory to fill.  

“Everyone gets the access of it. Why it is needed at all! I spoke against the same but it didn't make any difference. I have seen many such things which makes us stand separately even among the crowd,” a student irked by the exercise wrote in the survey.

A student mentioned that while allotting roll numbers after admission, students belonging to the SC/ST community end up getting the first few, and asked why the allotment is not random. 

“I feel, somewhere, it is some kind of invisible way of recognition where nobody explicitly mentions about caste but creates an invisible boundary or tag,” the student wrote. 

Is the SC/ST Cell Falling Short On Its Purpose? 

When asked in the survey as to what more needs to be done by the SC/ST Cell, many students said that OC students need to be sensitised about reservations.  

“Most of the students, feel that reserved category students are undeserving and that reservations are unnecessary without knowing the privileges they are enjoying just by being born in a "better" community,” a student wrote. 

Another student suggested that the SC/ST Cell should include a mentoring programme for first year students so as to ease their transition into academics as well as other fields, “and the hyper competitive nature of peers here”.   

“I feel more than the academic stuff, the feeling of being lower than someone and the mental problems that come with it - lowering self-esteem - actually hinders CPI as well as development an a whole,” the student said.  

Other issues that students suggested be taken up by the SC/ST Cell included providing English training courses, sessions to improve confidence, seminars on social justice and diversity, and a stronger grievance redressal system. 

Another similar survey on mental health was also conducted by the Student Wellness Centre in June 2022.  

“After the surveys were conducted, IIT Bombay has started a mentorship programme for first year students in July 2022. But it has not yet extended to many programmes. I am not sure if it extended to the Chemical Department, to which Darshan belonged. But isn’t this acknowledgement that there is an issue,” a student belonging to the APPSC told The Quint, requesting anonymity.

Who Is Darshan Solanki?

Darshan, a first-year student pursuing B.Tech in Chemical Engineering from the elite institute, had died by suicide on 12 February. Hailing from Ahmedabad in Gujarat, Darshan had cleared the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) twice to better his rank and make it to IIT Bombay.

Son to Ramesh Solanki, who works as a plumber and Tarlikaben who is a homemaker, Darshan had studied for the exam on his own and had taken no external coaching, his family had earlier told The Quint.

Darshan’s family and a student body, Ambedkar Phule Periyar Study Circle (APPSC) had linked caste-based discrimination to his death, with the student body even calling it “institutional murder.”

Meanwhile, IIT Bombay, which has been refuting allegations of caste bias on campus, claimed in an interim report by an internal committee that Darshan could have been “severely affected by his deteriorating academic performance.”