TISS student alleges caste discrimination by professors

MUMBAI: A student of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) recently submitted a written complaint to the Trombay police station, alleging caste discrimination by professors. The complaint has named senior professors and members of the institute’s students’ union.

The student said there have been incidents, some dating back from 2017 onwards, which finally led to him still not being in possession of his mark sheet, despite graduating from the institute in May 2018. The institute refuted the allegations, saying the student had submitted two caste certificates from two different bodies, which led to delays in reimbursing his scholarships.

“There have been instances where a senior professor has told me that she hates the fact that I study at the institute for ‘free’ and eat ‘free’ food, just because I belong to a Scheduled Caste (SC). In some cases, the same professor has also questioned my caste certificate just because I have fair skin and don’t look like an SC,” said the complainant in his letter to the police. A copy of the letter has also been marked to the ACP and DCP of the zone, along with the University Grants Commission (UGC), National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), National Commission

for SC-ST as well as the governor of Maharashtra.

The student, in his complaint, has mentioned an incident in December 2017 when he alleged that a particular professor refused to accept his fieldwork and made him repeat the same in order to pass the final semester. “Since it was already April 2018, I could not redo the month-long fieldwork and I was marked as failed in that semester. However, after repeating this work and re-submitting my work, the same professor still took time to clear my marks. I ultimately had to seek help from other senior officials of the institute,” added the complainant.

The letter further named officials from the institute whom he reached out to in the last year, but did not get any help or response.

The student has also blamed the management of TISS for not disbursing his scholarship amount. “The complaint has been received and we are looking into the matter,” said Shahaji Umap, DCP, Zone 6. A spokesperson from the institute said the complainants’ documents are currently being checked by appropriate authorities. “The student, at the time of admission, submitted two separate caste certificates, from two different bodies. As per UGC regulations, we have asked the respective government departments to confirm his certificate and once that comes through, his scholarship reimbursement will be released,” said the spokesperson, refuting any claims of caste discrimination against any student on campus.