In a significant parliamentary address on Friday, Congress MP K C Venugopal passionately called on the Union government to take decisive measures against caste-based discrimination in higher education institutions. His impassioned plea was rooted in the disconcerting statistics revealed a day earlier by fellow Congress MP K Suresh in the Lok Sabha, shedding light on the concerning trend of around 13,500 students from Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC) dropping out of central universities, Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) over the last five years.
Venugopal, addressing the Rajya Sabha, underscored the urgency of the matter, emphasizing the need for immediate intervention by the Union government. He drew attention to the detailed statistics presented by Suresh, which included a breakdown of dropout numbers across different categories. According to Suresh’s revelations, approximately 4,596 OBC candidates, 2,424 SC candidates, and 2,622 ST candidates had discontinued their education in central universities during the specified period. Similarly, 2,066 OBC candidates, 1,068 SC candidates, and 408 ST candidates had dropped out of IITs, while IIMs witnessed 163 OBC, 188 SC, and 91 ST candidates leaving their academic pursuits.
Venturing beyond the numbers, Venugopal challenged the government’s explanation that students had various alternatives, asserting that this disparity appeared to disproportionately impact OBC, SC, and ST students. He further highlighted instances of caste-based discrimination reported in premier institutions such as IITs and IIMs, emphasizing that these institutions had made headlines for the wrong reasons.
The Congress MP also directed attention to the alarming rates of suicide among SC, ST, and OBC communities during this period. Referring to government data from December 2021, Venugopal stated that 122 students had died by suicide at government-run higher education institutes between 2014 and 2021. Disturbingly, 24 of these students were from the SC community, three from the ST community, and 41 from OBCs.
In light of these distressing revelations, Venugopal passionately appealed to the government to take immediate and effective steps to address the pervasive issue of discrimination within educational institutions. He called for intervention to ensure the rights and well-being of students from marginalized communities and emphasized the urgency of rectifying the systemic issues that contribute to high dropout rates and mental health challenges.
The plea from Congress MP K C Venugopal serves as a stark reminder of the deep-rooted challenges faced by marginalized students in the Indian education system. Caste-based discrimination continues to be a pervasive issue, affecting not only educational opportunities but also the mental health and well-being of students from historically marginalized communities.
As the issue gains attention in the hallowed halls of Parliament, it is hoped that the Union government will heed the call for immediate action, initiating comprehensive reforms to address discrimination and create an inclusive educational environment. The fate of thousands of students hangs in the balance, and the urgency expressed by Venugopal underscores the need for swift and decisive measures to rectify the systemic issues plaguing higher education institutions in the country.
