From left to right: Harshali Nagrale, Anshul Kumar, Disha
Anshul Kumar, a sociology student at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, applied to the masters degree programme in social anthropology at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. In January, he was thrilled to receive an admission offer.
The 25-year-old from a Dalit family in Delhi knew his parents did not have the resources to support his education abroad. But he was counting on the National Overseas Scholarship.
Every year, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment announces 100 such scholarships: 90 for Dalit students from communities listed as Scheduled Castes, six for those from denotified, nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes, and four for landless agricultural labourers and traditional artisans. Similarly, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs offers 20 overseas scholarships: 17 for Adivasi students from communities listed as Scheduled Tribes and three for those from particularly vu
Trigger warning: Mentions of casteist abuse and suicide
In April 2021, videos surfaced on the internet that showed Seema Singh, an associate professor at IIT Kharagpur, hurling abuses at students of marginalised castes and/or with physical disabilities during an online class. Her tirade was allegedly a response to a student not standing up for the national anthem and not saying “
Bharatmata ki jai“.
Another video shows Singh responding publicly to a student’s email asking for a few days’ leave after her grandfather had succumbed to COVID-19. In her response, Singh calls the request an example of “non-application of the human mind”, among other things.
Caste s Potential to Subvert Hegemonic Tropes Across the World
In Caste: The Origins of our Discontents , Isabel Wilkerson looks at society through the lens of its pervasive oppression.
Coloured drinking fountain, Oklahoma, 1939. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
World5 hours ago
Why is it that so many persons of Indian origin thrive in the US? Look anywhere â many of the titans of big industries are brown people from South Asia. Why is it that so many Indian doctors or dentists take care of American ailments? And that the culture, literary and media industries also have so many Indian people? What is that secret sauce that makes this possible? To understand this better we need a caste lens. The many Indians who sit at the top of the American dream are largely from the dominant castes of Indian society. Their upbringing, mannerisms, deftness, way of thinking and claiming pride, belief in culture, dominant oppressive status, easy access to lowest caste labour, and the confidence to �
At IITs, PhD Applicants from Marginalised Communities Have Much Lower Acceptance Rate
Data covering PhD admissions to major IITs between 2015 and 2019 shows that none of them fulfilled the government-mandated reservation policy for SC and ST students.
A view of IIT Delhi. Credit: Bryn Pinzgauer/Flickr, CC BY 2.0
Rights15/Feb/2021
New Delhi: Scholars from marginalised communities are significantly underrepresented in PhD programmes at Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in the country and applicants from these communities also have a lower acceptance rate.
The Hindu in a three-part series, flies in the face of the common defence put forward by these institutes that they have fewer PhD scholars from marginalised communities due to the lack of applicants.