THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: One hartal and 19 days after the suicide of Nithin Raj, the BDS student from Anjarakandy Dental College, discussions seem to revolve around the incident alone, rather than the repeated incidents of caste-slurs and discrimination being faced by students in the higher education sector.
Calling caste discrimination in higher education institutions a problem with multiple aspects involved, Kerala State Higher Education Council member secretary Rajan Varughese said that there is a critical legislative vacuum to prevent atrocities against students coming from marginalised communities inside college campuses.
“The Rohith Vemula Act, which could have been a one-stop solution to all such issues, has been stayed by the Supreme Court after protests by people with supposed vested interests. Even though Kerala has a gross enrolment ratio of SC/ST students way higher than the national average, we cannot be certain that discriminatory practices do not exist in our higher education institutions — be it private or public,” he said.
Pointing out that the Karnataka government passed the Rohith Vemula Prevention of Discrimination, Exclusion or Injustice) (Right to Education and Dignity) Bill, less than two weeks ago, Dalit activist K Santhosh Kumar questioned what is stopping Kerala from implementing such a legal framework in the state.
“A legislative reform is the immediate solution, but it cannot be a silver bullet to eradicate the issue. But beyond that, the system needs to democratise higher education institutions by ensuring proper representation of people from all communities, which should not just be limited to students, but extended to teachers, non-teaching staff, and even those in the administration. If we are able to bring this to the aided sector as well, the representation itself can ensure justice,” he said.
Santhosh also added that the number of SC/ST suicides in Kerala’s campuses may not be an alarming figure, but the number of dropouts from these communities, particularly from professional colleges, is a matter of concern.
However, Higher Education Minister R Bindu said that a legal solution for all these issues was part of the University Laws Amendment Bill brought in by the LDF government, which had not been signed by the Governor. “The bill had put forward key suggestions, which also carry the spirit of addressing issues of students from marginalised communities. It suggested the mandatory formation of a Students’ Grievance Redressal Cell at both the university and institution levels, including self-financing colleges. Along with this, a Students’ Charter of Rights was also part of the bill presented in the legislative assembly,” the minister told TNIE.
The missing figures
Despite the emergence of multiple cases and allegations at different points in time, conclusive data on discriminatory incidents against students from SC/ST groups are not available. Officials from the SC/ST welfare departments said consolidated data is not available about atrocities against college students.
“Even at the national level, we just monitor the number of campus suicides. No separate provision has been allocated to monitor the caste-based deaths,” a top official working in the higher education department said.
However, some Dalit organisations claim that at least 12 students from backward communities were found dead in the state’s colleges in the last 10 years.