Times of India report

Caste guides your fate at HCU

Dalit Student’s Suicide Brings Caste Bias In Central Varsity Out In The Open

Nikhila Henry TNN

Hyderabad: It took the death of a Dalit student to bring out caste conflicts on the University of Hyderabad (HCU) campus to the fore. After the shocking suicide of Ph D scholar P Senthil Kumar, Dalit students are up in arms against the varsity administration alleging foul play in allotment of guides. According to sources, many Dalit and minority students in the School of Science do not get guides even two years after they join PhD and M Phil programmes. However, academics claimed the students were not allotted guides as many of them do not match up to the standards of the department and it takes almost a year to train them in basics.

“We did make personal recommendations with the academic council to not include students who are not up to the mark. We insist on course work as it is very necessary to learn the basics,” dean of School of Physics Vipin Srivastav told ‘TOI’. However, many students are not happy with the course work proposal. Of the eight schools, only Physics and English departments insist on course work. Incidentally, Senthil Kumar was from the School of Physics. “Though the administration quotes rules, according to which students will have to complete the first year without a guide, it should not be forgotten that the rule was introduced in 2007. There are several students who had joined three years ago and are yet to be allotted a guide,” T Nageshwara Rao, a former student of School of Physics, told ‘TOI’.

The one-year course work rule was introduced in 2007 as some departments found it difficult to accommodate many students recommended by a committee for admissions for reserved category. According to the current rules of the university, a student will be taken under a guide only after they finish their course work which will be regular classes for six months and an examination at the end of the semester. However, this system was introduced during the 2007-08 academic year. In the 2006 batch, six students who were pursuing PhD programmes were not allotted guides.

“I had no reason to stick on as there was nothing to be done even after six months. Hence, I went back to my home town,” said a girl student hailing from Guntur district. Meanwhile, Vipin Srivastava stated many faculty members had taken in as many students as possible. “There is no discrimination on the basis of caste,” he added. “There is a great demand for experimental physicists whereas there are no takers for Theoretical Physics as it is tough. Students who did not get a guide were not capable to take up theory courses though it was offered to them,” Srivastava said. Anyhow, it seems the castebased conflicts are swept under the carpet. In most cases, the students were afraid to come out in the open as they feel it would eventually hamper their future. “In many cases, students who are not liked by the faculty do not get references to pursue research at institutes abroad,” a student of the chemistry department, requesting anonymity, told ‘TOI’.

According to the students, many faculty have issues in referring names of ‘quota students’ for admissions in foreign universities. “In the department of chemistry, students are allotted guides only when the admission formalities are completed. However, we have a selection process on the basis of interviews which will filter only good students,” School of Chemistry dean M Periaswamy said. “We will not allow the course work policy to continue in the university, especially when it indirectly led to the death of a student. The students will have to be allotted guides immediately,” an Ambedkar Students’ Union representative told ‘TOI’.