IIT Madras teacher resigns citing caste discrimination

An assistant professor at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras resigned on Thursday citing caste discrimination. In a strongly worded but unverified email leaked to the media, Vipin Pudiyadath Veetil said he was moving to another institution primarily because of the discrimination he faced at the humanities and social sciences department since joining the institute in March 2019. “The discrimination came from individuals in position of power, irrespective of their claimed political affiliations and gender.”

He added he would take appropriate action to address multiple instances of caste discrimination and suggested the institute set up a committee of members from the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, and Other Backward Class commissions. He added the panel should also have psychologists to study the experiences of faculty members from these communities.

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Veetil has a PhD in economics from the George Mason University. He was a postdoctoral fellow in Paris, according to the faculty page on IIT-M’s website. He completed his bachelor’s degree from the University of Delhi in 2006.

In a statement, IIT Madras said the institute has no comments to make. “Any complaint received by the Institute from employees and students is attended to promptly through the established process of redressing grievances.”

S Venkatesan, a Communist Party of India (Marxist) Parliament member from Tamil Nadu, on Friday called for a National Commission for Backward Classes probe into the alleged caste. “Why is IIT shrouded in secrecy,” he tweeted.