CHENNAI: National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) Member, Swaraj Vidwaan, on Friday pulled up the Indian Institute of Technology- Madras for not recognising SC/ST Employees Welfare Association and asked the institute to submit a report on how many students among those who had killed themselves on the campus, belonged to SC/ST communities.
She was talking to newspersons on the sidelines of Coordination Committee meeting of Federation of All IITs SC/ST Employees Associations.
“The institute does not have a SC/ST grievance redressal cell. Where would students and professors register their grievances? It should be formed immediately,” she said adding that the students, especially those belonging to SC/ST communities, face mental harassment in the institute. On the institute’s alleged failure to follow reservation, she said of the 2,320 students admitted to MS programme in the last 10 years, only 47 were from the Scheduled Caste community and six from Scheduled Tribe. Of the 3,846 admitted for PhD in the last 10 years, only 213 and 21 were from SC/ST.
A Commission staff told Express that the institute did not furnish data on the number of SC/ST students who killed themselves between 2006 and 2019. He said the institute would be issued with a formal notice. “Complaints were received from students that management refused to discuss increasing suicide cases and did not help readily.”