Only 12 per cent of the faculty in the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur are women, and 14 out of 19 departments of the institution do not have faculty from Scheduled Tribes (STs), new data reports. 

This data was obtained by the Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle (APPSC) of IIT Bombay, an independent student collective that advocates for the rights of students from marginalised communities, particularly Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Other Backward Classes (OBCs), religious and gender minorities, in a Right to Information (RTI) response.

It was revealed from the data that there was no female staff recruitment from the SC, ST, or OBC communities into IIT Kanpur in 2023. This was despite continuous demands from the students, as well as government orders. 

Furthermore, of the 19 departments of the institution, eight departments did not have SC faculty, and three departments did not have OBC faculty.

In 2023, the data disclosed that only nine candidates from the SC, ST, and OBC categories have been recruited since January 1, and none of them were women. It was also alleged by APPSC that IIT Kanpur also “deliberately denied” the Mission Mode Recruitment of SC, ST, and OBC categories.

More shocking than the lack of caste diversity in the faculty of IIT Kanpur, is also a lack of gender diversity – two departments in the institution have no female faculty members. 

In addition, the number of female faculty members from both the SC and ST categories is one, and 11 departments have no female faculty members from the SC, ST, and OBC categories. Male faculty members constitute 88 per cent of the total number of faculty members at IIT Kanpur. 

Sharing this data to their social media accounts, APPSC asks, “IIT Kanpur has violated reservation in faculty recruitment despite our consistent campaign and the govt ordering MMR. They are not following the law, disobeying govt, no support for students, 3 suicides in one month. Where is accountability??”

Further, it alleges that the institution recruited only made general category appointments, despite government orders to fill up vacant seats for SC, ST and OBCs through mission mode recruitment.