IIT Bombay to make caste-related sensitisation course mandatory amidst complaints of mental harassment

In response to allegations of caste-based mental harassment on the campus of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, the institute plans to make a sensitisation course on caste-related (especially SC/ST) issues that was planned by the SC/ST students' cell, mandatory for all students, staff and faculty members. The National Commission of Scheduled Tribes (NCST) had earlier served a notice to Subhasis Chaudhuri, Director of IIT Bombay (IITB) (on January 31) regarding students' complaints on caste-based mental harassment and directed him to respond within three days.

"On June 10, 2022, a complaint related to a particular counsellor's old social media post was received.  This post was made from her personal non-official account, seven years ago. The counsellor was asked to immediately take down the post, and warned to avoid any similar posts in future. It may be noted that the same counsellor has been working with SC/ST Cell since April 2022 on a joint survey on mental health. Corrective measures have been pursued to sensitise all employees about caste related issues," the institute said in its statement.

To recall, the Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle (APPSC), IIT Bombay, which is a student group, wrote to the NCST regarding mental harassment at the campus. The students allege that they have been facing such issues from time to time, but the matter escalated when a counsellor appointed at the Student Wellness Centre (SWC) was known to have made a snide comment against reserved category students in a Facebook post.

The institute in response said that the SWC is carrying out a number of steps to help all students, proactively and when there is a need for counselling, it is provided by their SWC counsellors. "The IITB Student Wellness Centre (SWC) provides counselling to all students of IITB on mental health issues, regardless of caste, gender or any other aspect," the statement said.

Moreover, the Bandhu self-help website is developed by SWC in collaboration with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) to provide information about mental health problems to students, the institute said. "Since some of the mental issues are related to gender/sexual orientation (LGBTQ) issues, the SWC has included information related to these issues on the Bandhu portal," the institute added.