Notice to IITs on campus placements after caste bias alleged

The notice follows a complaint from an IIT-Bombay alumnus alleging discriminatory practices against Scheduled Caste students during campus placements

The National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) has issued a notice to the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, IIT-Delhi and the Secretary of the Department of Higher Education, directing them to submit an action taken report within 15 days.

Singh alleged that both IIT-Bombay and IIT-Delhi require SC students to disclose their caste category and category rank from their JEE during the placement process.

The notice follows a complaint from Dheeraj Singh, an IIT-Bombay alumnus, alleging discriminatory practices against Scheduled Caste (SC) students during campus placements.

The complaint, filed in November 2023, highlights concerns about alleged institutional discrimination against SC students.

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The NCSC has warned the institutions that failure to comply with the directive would result in summons for an in-person hearing.

In his letter to the commission, Singh alleged that both IIT-Bombay and IIT-Delhi require SC students to disclose their caste category and category rank from their Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) during the placement process. Singh argued that this practice facilitates profiling and discrimination.

The letter states, “IIT-Bombay and IIT-Delhi are directly involved in discriminatory practices against 300 SC students participating in campus placements. Students are mandated to disclose their JEE category and rank, a blatant attempt to enable discrimination by placement officials. Testimonials from several students confirm this profiling, have raised fears that private sector recruiters may eliminate candidates based on their category information.”

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In the letter, Singh urged that such caste-based discriminatory practices be stopped immediately and those guilty of committing and facilitating them be brought to legal justice.

Singh had attached evidence, including placement forms, to substantiate his claims.

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On this notice, he said that private sector companies, which are not bound by reservation policies, often compel students to provide caste-related information, which increases the risk of bias. Singh questioned the relevance of using four-year-old JEE ranks as a selection criterion, stating, “Why aren’t recruiters relying on academic performance during the degree? Does this indicate a lack of confidence in IIT’s academic rigour?”

Singh also criticised the institutions for failing to protect SC students from discriminatory practices in private-sector hiring.

Attempts to contact the administrations of IIT-Bombay and IIT-Delhi for their comments on the matter yielded no response.