IIT PhD scholar protests against ‘discrimination’ in IITs in front of education ministry
Sachchidanand Pandey filed plea in the Supreme Court against students’ suicides, opaque faculty recruitment process, discrimination, corruption in IITs.
Vagisha Kaushik | January 13, 2022 | 06:41 PM IST
NEW DELHI: Sachchida Nand Pandey, a PhD graduate from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, has been protesting since January 7 in front of the ministry of education over the issues of students’ suicides , alleged mental harassment, research-related corruption, and discrimination in IITs.
Earlier, Pandey filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking directions to the IITs to follow reservation policy in admissions in research degree programmes, transparent recruitment process, termination of non-performing professors. The top court has only issued a notice on the reservation issue, he told Careers360.
Also Read | ‘It’s a meat-grinder’: Stress and despair at the IITs
Not only the Supreme Court, the education ministry is also silent over these issues even after writing to the education minister, he said. Pandey has also written to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana demanding reasons for the silence.
In his mail to the CJI, Pandey has accused the professors of IITs of having unprofessional, unsocial, and in-humane behaviour towards students. He claimed that in the past few years, around 100 students have died by suicide and over 7,000 left the institutes without completing their studies owing to “professors’ in-human behaviour, highly stressful and terrifying environment created by IITs managements”.
He further criticised the allegedly opaque and discriminatory recruitment practices in the IITs, alleging that they continue to flout reservation policy formed by the government.
Alleging that discrimination against students in IITs is two-fold, on the basis of caste and region, he declared that IITs have hired “incapable and useless quality of faculty”.
“In 2019, the IIT council accepted that over 50% of professors' performance is below the desired level,” he asserted in his mail.
Also Read | IITs witness 50 suicides in 5 years; 14 at IIT Guwahati alone
Pandey went on to talk about the discrimination and harassment allegedly inflicted on him while he was studying at IIT Bombay and Madras. He alleged that he had had his name removed from research, was removed from high-value projects, stopped from attending international conferences, and had his fellowship terminated for a year.
Follow us for the latest education news on colleges and universities, admission, courses, exams, research, education policies, study abroad and more..
To get in touch, write to us at news@careers360.com.
Next Story
]Schools, Colleges Closed: Boards, universities postpone exams as Omicron, COVID-19 cases rise
COVID-19, Omicron Cases in India: Delhi, Haryana, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu among other state governments have instructed schools, colleges to continue online learning as board exams, semester exams are fast approaching.
Team Careers360Featured News
]- Co-author of TISS report on ‘illegal’ Bangladeshi, Rohingya migrants under scanner for harassment, abuse
- NCTE to relaunch 1-year B.Ed, M.Ed with NTA-run admission test; drafts rules on syllabus
- ‘Used like guinea pigs’: Sarvodaya Vidyalaya parents want IB syllabus withdrawn, write to LG
- NCH relaxes teacher norms for PG departments in homeopathy colleges
- IIT Kanpur Suicide: No TA-duty for PhDs, review of labs, investigation – students make 11 demands
- ‘Beyond Kota and IIT exams’: Student suicides have more than board exams, academic pressure behind them
- NITI Aayog suggests HEFA-like agencies, fee hike, self-financed courses for state universities
- Education Loan: Over 50,000 NPAs in credit guarantee scheme, but repayment rate encouraging, says minister
- Zero Samagra Shiksha funds to Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu: Government
- Agriculture courses in Maharashtra see 8% uptick in UG admissions, but job prospects remain grim