IIT prof moves NCBC to probe caste plaint

NEW DELHI: An assistant professor at the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras approached the National Commission for Backward Classes and wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday to address his complaints of caste-based disrimination at the premier institution.

Vipin P Veetil, an assistant professor at the department of humanities and social sciences who belongs to the other backward classes (OBC) category, also resigned from IIT-Madras. This came after a panel set up by the institution to look into his complaint said it found no evidence of caste bias. “My work and personal wellbeing was suffering…I had to leave for the sake of my own health. I am approaching the NCBC so that those who harassed me realise that there are costs to caste discrimination,” Veetil said.

In July last year, Veetil accused four professors of caste bias, alleging that he was not permitted to teach an elective course in his first year of joining, though later, another faculty member, who was Brahmin, was allowed to do so. B

In his letter to the NCBC, Veetil said he wanted the commission to hold an independent inquiry into his complaint because he was “wholly unsatisfied” with the IIT-Madras processes.

“I am writing to you after having been at the receiving end of months of administrative caste violence, all of which has had a considerable impact on my personal wellbeing and scientific work,” he wrote in his letter to the NCBC.

He also alleged that procedural lapses were made in the IIT-Madras inquiry. In a separate letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said that he will be forced to undertake a hunger strike if his demands were not met. “I have had to resign simply because the casteist hegemons at the institute will not let a person of a ‘low caste’ live in peace, let alone work with dignity…,” he said.

The IIT has previously denied all allegations of caste bias and said approval for teaching an elective course can take between three and six months due to procedural reasons. The government also told Parliament last year that IIT-Madras didn’t discriminate on lines of caste or faith.

IIT DENIED THE ALLEGATIONS AND SAID APPROVAL FOR TEACHING AN ELECTIVE COURSE CAN TAKE BETWEEN 3-6 MONTHS