IIT Bombay suicide case: Student group seeks resignation of director

A student collective at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay on Wednesday demanded the resignation of the premier institutes director in the backdrop of alleged suicide by a firstyear Dalit student and allegations he was facing caste discriminationThe Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle APPSC also sought that a report of the SCST Cell of the IIT Bombay which it claimed talks about lack of institutional support for Dalit and tribal students in the campus be made publicThe student Darshan Solanki 18 died allegedly after jumping off the seventh floor of a hostel building on the Powai campus of the premier institute on Sunday Solanki who hailed from Ahmedabad was a firstyear student of BTech ChemicalAlso read Central Railway announces summer special trains between Mumbai Kanpur and Pune Virangana Lakshmibai all details hereThe IIT Bombay on Tuesday rejected charges of caste bias in the institute and said initial inputs from the deceaseds friends suggested there was no discriminationIn a statement the APPSC a student body within the campus said We demand resignation of the institute director Prof Subhasis Chaudhuri in the light of these new facts and hope the administration will start the much needed learning process at least now Data prepared by the SCST Cell points towards the lack of institutional support for SCST students at the IIT BThe student body alleged the IITB administration has not appointed any SCST counsellors even after its complaints and said this shows blatant disregards towards the pupilsDespite all the detailed testimonies and data which is available with the institute the director kept reiterating that there is no discrimination on the campus We demand his resignation the statement saidThe APPSC said past reports of the SCST Cell as well as others be made publicWe want the administration to stop hiding the reports of the surveys conducted by the SCST Cell as well as others and release them for public discussion as soon as possible The structural issues at the IIT B faced by the students have been pointed out time and again to the administration in the last several years Even the surveys conducted by the SCST Cell and an open house on caste conducted last year detailed the kind of everyday discrimination that our students face on campus the statement saidHowever the institute on Tuesday said it takes utmost precautions to make the campus as inclusive as possible and it has a zero tolerance for any discrimination by facultyCaste identity is never disclosed to any one whether students or faculty once the admission is done and the institute sensitises students to not seek proxy information such as ranks in entrance exams it said in a statementThe institute gives strong warnings against discrimination right from the time students enter the IIT campus While no steps can be 100 per cent effective discrimination by students if at all it occurs is an exception the statement saidThe IIT Bombay has an SCST Cell which students can approach in case they face any issues including discrimination There have been very few complaints to the cell whether against faculty or other students over the past many years and only one case was found to have substance and strict action has been taken it said in the statementThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever