IIT-Delhi constitutes SC/ST-OBC Cell, notifies mandate, terms of reference

Notification gives the Cell powers to implement, monitor, and evaluate reservation policies in the institute for admissions at all levels; it will also implement measures to achieve objectives and targets of the government’s reservation policies

With a spate of recent student suicides at Indian Institute of Technologies (IITs) reigniting the debate on caste-based discrimination at the premier institutes, the IIT-Delhi on Thursday passed and notified the official mandate for its SC/ST (Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes) and OBC (Other Backward Classes) Cell. There were three suicides at IIT-Bombay and IIT-Madras in the past one month, with at least two of the victims being Dalit students.  

The notification issued by the Registrar’s Secretariat gives the Cell teeth to implement, monitor, and evaluate continuously, reservation policies in the institute for admissions at all levels and recruitment of both teaching and non-teaching staff. It also gives the Cell power to address academic and administrative grievances that any SC/ST/OBC student, faculty or staff might have. 

According to the notification, the Cell has been constituted with nine members, led by Professor Pravin P. Ingole of the Department of Chemistry, who will be serving as the SC/ST Liaison Officer. The Cell has been given the mandate to take necessary follow-up measures to achieve objectives and targets of the government’s reservation policies with respect to SCs, STs, and OBCs. 

The Cell has been tasked with collecting and circulating orders and decisions of the Union government and the University Grants Commission (UGC) on various aspects of education, training and employment of SCs/STs/OBCs for “evolving or modifying existing policy by the Commission”. 

The Cell is also tasked with preparing reports and digests from analysing the above-mentioned information and sending it to the Union Ministry of Education. The Cell will also deal with representations from SC/ST/OBC candidates regarding admissions, recruitment, promotion and other similar matters. 

The Cell will also maintain a register for employment of SC/ST/OBC candidates for various positions at the institute. The Registrar’s Secretariat said that the Cell was being constituted in “continuation of the Institute’s resolve to establish a SC/ST Cell in accordance with the UGC Mandate”. 

Dheeraj Singh, an IIT alumnus who is mobilising pan-IIT alumni and faculty for Dalit and Adivasi welfare, said that the notification was “confusing”. “UGC guidelines for SC/ST Cell are exclusively meant for SC/ST only due to underlying statutory reasons as this Cell reports to Parliament via Standing Committee on Welfare of SC/ST. There are separate UGC guidelines for OBC and hence wondering why IIT-D is creating confusion at the outset by including OBC under SC/ST Cell,” Mr. Singh said.