Mumbai: Union Minister of State for Social Justice Ramdas Athawale on Wednesday visited the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay on Wednesday and demanded a thorough probe into the death of a first-year Dalit student and the allegations that he was facing caste discrimination.
Darshan Solanki (18) died allegedly after jumping off the seventh floor of a hostel building on the Powai campus of the institute on Sunday. Solanki, who hailed from Ahmedabad, was a first-year student of the BTech (Chemical) course.
IIT Bombay on Tuesday rejected charges of caste bias in the institute and said initial inputs from the deceased's friends suggested there was no discrimination, and urged students to wait till police and internal probes into the case are over.
Speaking to reporters here on Wednesday, Athawale said, I have demanded a thorough probe into the matter. There are allegations of the BTech student having faced caste discrimination. I have asked the authorities to probe this angle as well.
Action should be taken if required, he said.
Athawale said Solanki called his father on Sunday and informed him that except for one paper, his other first-semester exams went well.
His father had assured him not to worry and told him he would visit Mumbai soon. However, half an hour later, Solanki jumped from his hostel and died, he said.
“It is a very serious incident. In 2014, a Dalit student ended his life in a similar way. Six months back, another student outside IITB died by suicide. I am also aware that two students from IIT Madras have also died by suicide. Such incidents are increasing and they should be probed properly,” said the minister.
Athawale also said he will make efforts to facilitate some financial aid to Solanki's family members from Maharashtra and Gujarat governments.
"I have sought an appointment with Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis,” he said.
The Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle, a student group, called Solanki's death an institutional murder.
However, the institute on Tuesday said it takes utmost precautions to make the campus as inclusive as possible and it has zero tolerance for any discrimination by faculty.
Caste identity is never disclosed to anyone (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 also warns against discrimination right from the time students enter IIT. While no steps can be 100 per cent effective, discrimination by students, if at all it occurs, is an exception, the premier institute said.
The IIT Bombay has an SC/ST student cell where students can reach in case of 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 statement.
Solanki spoke of caste bias on campus: Students' body
A students' organisation alleged that Darshan Solanki had told a senior that he was facing caste bias on campus.
The Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle (APPSC) said Udaysingh Meena, then a final year student of chemical engineering had stated that Solanki was facing caste discrimination and exam-related depression.
It also demanded that the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act be invoked in the case, and the IIT should carry out an independent investigation through a panel with at least 50 per cent SC/ST representation.
“Darshan (Solanki) confided in Uday that his roommate, mentors and wing-mates were from the general category and reduced talking to him after coming to know about his rank which is a marker for his category. The combined issue of academic pressure and caste discrimination, along with a lack of mental health and academic support might have pushed him to take such an extreme step,” the APPSC statement said.
