In recent years, groups of activists, students and researchers have been pushing institutions not only to follow quotas, but also to better support researchers from poor communities. “We’re doing this to hold up a mirror to these institutes to show how ugly they are,” says a spokesman for Egalitarians, an organization that tries to collect and publish data on diversity.
The issue is part of a wider recognition of how privileged caste groups discriminate against marginalized communities – encouraged by India’s pro-Hindu Prime Minister Narendra Modi, say some academics who spoke to Nature but did not want to be named.
Some minority religious groups in India, such as Muslims – who are present across various social and caste divisions, including Dalits – also face structural inequality in society. According to the 2011 census, Muslims make up about 14% of the country’s population, but only 5.5% of those enrolled in higher education in 2019-20. they were Muslims, research data shows.
Since more detailed data was not available, Nature asked the IITs and other institutes for figures related to Muslim representation. Most said they did not have the numbers, but the scant data shared by several institutions suggests that Muslims are underrepresented at elite academic institutes. In 2020, Muslims constituted less than 5% of the PhD students at IIT Madras in Chennai and less than 1% of the teaching faculty at IIT Kharagpur; both are prestigious institutes. However, at IIT Dhanbad, a mid-tier institute in a region where Muslims are not unusually numerous, 55% of the PhD students were Muslim.
Growing criticism of under-representation and discrimination in academic institutions, especially around caste, is forcing some institutes into action. India’s education ministry, which did not respond to Nature’s request for an interview, has told federally-funded institutes, including the IITs, several times since 2019 to adhere to reservation norms when hiring teachers.
In 2019, the Modi government expanded reservation quotas by 10% to cover lower income earners who are not part of marginalized castes or groups who would otherwise fall under the ‘General’ category; they would be categorized under the ‘economically weaker sections’ of society. The extension is controversial but, after legal challenges, was upheld in a November 2022 ruling by India’s Supreme Court.
Representatives from four IITs spoke to Nature for this story; others did not respond. “Equating underrepresentation with discrimination is incorrect. There is no discrimination,” said Neela Nataraj, a mathematician and dean of faculty affairs at IIT Bombay in Mumbai. She accepted that the institute has a shortage of students and faculty from some social categories, but said its mission is to improve representation through recruitment without compromising on quality, and by encouraging more students from underrepresented communities to start doctoral studies. Angelie Multani, a literature professor who was appointed as IIT Delhi’s first dean for campus diversity in August 2022, says the institute has recognized that it, like others, has “underrepresentation of marginalized sections of society” and is working to improve the situation through measures such as plant recruitment. Amalendu Chandra, dean of faculty affairs at IIT Kanpur, says the institute has offered appointments to 48 teachers from marginalized communities in the past year. (The institute has 413 faculty members, according to its website).
At IIT Goa, Amaldev Manuel, computer scientist and 2022 Ph.D. Admission Chair, noted that the institution’s acceptance rate for PhD candidates from marginalized communities was higher (above 1%) than for the ‘general’ category (below 1%) , though received fewer applications from people of less privileged castes.
Some researchers, such as Ramesh Chandra, doubt that the institutions’ diversity initiatives will make much of a dent until the Indian government takes action against institutes for violating the reservation policy. “You have to take punitive action against the director [of the institute],” says Chandra. “Remove them.”
At the very least, Ram says, the government should require universities to publicly release diversity data and monitor compliance. And Minz believes that to change the situation, support systems must be created at every step from school education to high-level employment in academia — such as training in grant proposal writing and communication skills for researchers recruited from marginalized communities. “The playing field is not level at any stage,” she says.
For Samadhan, the marker of change would be more personal. “The day I can say my full name without hesitation in the institute, I will feel that equality has arrived,” he says.
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What are 3 facts about the caste system?
What are the three types of caste? Varna, jÄti and caste Often mentioned in ancient Indian texts. The four classes were the Brahmins (priestly men), the Kshatriyas (rulers, administrators, and warriors; also called rajanyas), the Vaishyas (artisans, merchants, traders, and farmers), and the Shudras (the laboring classes).
What are the 5 caste systems?
These four castes are Brahmins (priests, teachers), Kshatriyas (rulers, warriors), Vaishyas (landlords, merchants) and Shudras (servants), and the 5th group is a group of untouchables, called dalits.
What did the caste system do?
The caste system has existed in some form in India for at least 3000 years. On the same subject : HRA appoints former Senior Lifestyle Leader COO. It is a social hierarchy that is passed down through families and can dictate the professions a person can work in, as well as aspects of their social life, including who they can marry.
What are 3 things about the caste system?
Communities were divided by caste – upper and lower caste always lived in separate colonies. Water sources and basic amenities were not shared with those of different castes. Read also : For many Indian women, lack of access to toilets is a health risk. Brahmins would not accept food or drink from Shudras, and a man could only marry within his own caste.
How does caste system work in India?
The caste system is deeply rooted in the Hindu belief in karma and reincarnation. See the article : Opinion An expert on political violence urgently warns: The worst is yet to come. Dating back more than 3,000 years, the caste system divides Hindus into four main categories – Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras based on who they were in a past life, their karma and which family line they came from.
Can you thrive in a caste system? Hindus believe that when a person dies, they are reincarnated as another being, hopefully of a higher caste. The only way to move up to a higher caste in your next life is to strictly follow the rules of your current caste. The caste system is still prevalent in India, but it is somewhat relaxed.
What are the rules of the caste system in India?
A lower caste person cannot approach or touch a higher caste person, let alone touch food or other articles of consumption. They are not allowed to enter the superior’s house or other places like holy temples. Inter-caste marriages are strictly prohibited.
How do you explain caste system?
The caste system is a class structure determined by birth. Simply put, this means that in some societies the opportunities you have access to depend on the family you are born into. The term caste system has been around since the 1840s, but we’ve been using castes since the 1500s.
What is the highest importance in the caste system?
The highest varna in society were Brahmins. Brahmins were priests, scholars, judges, teachers and landowners and were believed to understand the Dharma, or spiritual laws that governed the universe.
What is the most important characteristic of caste? Endogamy: Endogamy is the main characteristic of caste ie. members of a caste or subcaste should marry within their own caste or subcaste.
What is the highest position in the caste system?
A hierarchical system where mostly Brahmins were at the head of the hierarchy, but this hierarchy was contested in some cases. In various linguistic areas hundreds of castes had a gradation generally recognized by all.
What is the importance of caste?
The caste system provides a hierarchy of social roles that have inherent characteristics and, more importantly, remain stable throughout life (Dirks, 1989). Attached to one’s caste is an implicit status that has historically varied from social roles to hereditary roles.
What was the main point of the caste system in India?
According to one long-standing theory about the origin of the caste system in South Asia, Aryans from Central Asia invaded South Asia and introduced the caste system as a means of controlling the local population. The Aryans defined key roles in society and then assigned groups of people to them.
