IIT Bombay denies ‘food segregation policy’ on campus in reply to RTI plea

NEW DELHI: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Bombay) has denied food segregation policy on the campus in a reply to a Right to Information application.

The RTI activist had asked five questions to the IIT Bombay. The activist asked the IIT Bombay about the hostels which have separate dining arrangements for vegetarians and Jain students and where non-vegetarian students are not allowed to take egg or meat products”.

The IIT Bombay was also asked about “the penalties and punishments imposed on the non-vegetarian students who brought nonvegetarian food into the vegetarian and Jain food sections on the messes.”

The activist also asked the institute to provide the minutes of the meetings which decided that there should be a separate eating space for vegetarian/Jain students where non-vegetarian students are not allowed to bring non-vegetarian food. The last question was regarding the amount that has been collected as fines for violating the alleged food segregation rule in each of the hostels.

The IIT Bombay in its answer has denied that no arrangements have been made at any hostel for separate dining arrangements for vegetarians and Jain students. It also added no meeting was conducted and no fine was collected from any student.

In July, students had raised the issue of food discrimination at the IIT Bombay after “vegetarians only” posters were put up on the walls of a canteen in one of the hostels.

It was reported in October that the institute had imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the students who had stood against the food segregation policy of the institute by a peaceful act of individual civil disobedience.