The All India OBC Students Association (AIOBCSA) has announced a protest at Bengaluru’s Freedom Park on November 20, to highlight concerns over alleged caste discrimination at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore and other premier institutions.
The AIOBCSA has filed multiple Right to Information (RTI) applications, targeting India’s top educational institutions, including IIMs and Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), to investigate their adherence to reservation policies. According to the association, many of these institutions are failing to comply with mandated quotas, with ongoing issues of roster violations.
Additionally, the AIOBCSA alleges that students and faculty from marginalised communities, particularly Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC), continue to face caste-based discrimination and harassment.
Kiran Kumar, President of AIOBCSA, shared, "Several associations have raised this concern, and while progress has been made at central universities, IITs and IIMs are still in serious violation of reservation policies. The Government of India must exert pressure on these institutions to recruit more SC, ST, and OBC faculty and students. We already have a qualified pool of candidates."
Kumar also called for the formation of dedicated SC/ST/OBC cells within IITs and IIMs to support marginalised students and staff. He further proposed that the Board of Governors (BoG) of these institutions be made more inclusive.
The protest will be held on November 20, 2024, from 10 am to 1 pm. The group has highlighted five major demands. These are:
1. Removal of alleged perpetrators of caste atrocities at IIM Bangalore
2. Establishment of SC/ST/OBC Cells
3. To stop harassment of faculty members who raise their voices against caste-based atrocities and violations of the constitutional rights
4. Filling of reserved faculty positions designated for SC, ST, and OBC candidates
5. Restructuring the IIM Bangalore Board with representatives from SC, ST, and OBC alumni