Even in the country’s best institutes like the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), caste chauvinism is scaring students. Nearly one-third of 388 SC/ST students said they felt comfortable discussing their caste identity openly on campus, according to a draft report of a survey conducted last year by the SC-ST student cell of IIT Bombay. Don’t do it.
The details of the February 2022 survey—which is yet to be officially released by IIT-Bombay—were not revealed earlier in the report.
Another 131 students (33.8%) said they could only talk about their caste among “very close” friends, while 27 students (7.2%) spoke about their caste within their “extended friends” circles, the survey reports. I am afraid to discuss caste. Terms such as “very close friends” refer to students from the respondents’ own social background, effectively indicating that approximately 245 (63.2%) respondents were not comfortable talking openly about caste identity .
“These numbers show how hostile, insensitive and unsafe a place IIT Bombay is for SC/ST students,” notes the draft report. The draft report calls for an immediate push to make IIT Bombay “a safe institution and safe space and to restore confidence among students there so that they can openly claim their identity and seek redressal in case of caste discrimination”. Can.”
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