Mumba i: Only about 11% of the faculty at IIT-Bombay belong to the reserved categories. Data obtained from IIT-B, in reply to an RTI plea filed by All India OBC Students’ Association earlier this month, revealed that of the 775 filled posts, only 84 are held by teachers from the SC , ST, OBC and EWS categories. Of the total 1,225 sanctioned teaching posts, 450 are vacant at the institute.
This shows a significant under-representation of reserved-category communities among IIT-B faculty, while a large number of students belong to these categories, said student groups.
A student said despite the Mission Mode Recruitment drive launched by Centre in 2021 to clear the backlog of vacant posts in reserved categories, the numbers have not gone up significantly. Currently, empathy and compassion are missing due to lack of representation from SC, ST and OBCs,” he said. Representation at the entry-level assistant professor rank is relatively higher than that at professor level. The same is true for several other centrally funded technological institutions. Student groups have raised concerns that the lack of adequate representation among faculty could allegedly also affect the mentorship and support available to students from the communities. Additionally, with only professors making it to the decision-making bodies, representation remains poor there too. Kiran added all Indian campuses have certified university and institute-level mechanisms for grievances such as the SC and ST cell and equal opportunities cell, etc. “There is also the academic council, executive council in universities and the IIT council. Since very few members from the marginalised section are at professor level, they do not make it to these decision-making bodies. We need representation from various sections in these councils to check any kind of discrimination.
The debate over caste discrimination at the country’s leading technical institutes has resurfaced after allegations by parents of 20-year-old BTech student Sahil Wakode, who died by suicide on Sept 18. Hours before his death, he was allegedly found using a phone in his exam.