Thread by @lonelyredcurl

Many are outraged at the abuses hurled by Prof. Seema Singh of IIT Kharagpur at her students in the preparatory course for SC/ST/PD candidates. And rightly so.

But ever stopped to think why this is so? How can a professor behave with such impunity?

Here's why. A Thread. 👇 1/n

Over the years, premier institutions of higher education have been built up as fiefdoms of upper caste faculty and students. Read The Caste of Merit for more.

But cracks have appeared in these 'agraharas' since the implementation of OBC reservations. 2/n
thehindu.com/books/books-re…

When extension of 'mandal' reservations were announced in 2006, these fiefdoms erupted. 2500 IIT Roorkee students wrote a letter in protest to the President. Doctors went on strike. The PanIIT alumni organized a human-chain rally.

They called themselves Youth For Equality. 3/n

Faculty came out in support. AIIMS Faculty Association went on mass casual leave. Profs in IITs and IIMs protested and damaged public property. Youth For Equality even threatened civil disobedience.

All were egged on by a pliant media who blacked out pro-reservation rallies 4/n

Finally these institutions were forced to implement reservations, but not before they ensured that overall seats would increase so that upper-caste admissions wouldn't be affected

These were the same institutes which had cited lack of infrastructure to take in more students 5/n

IIT faculty and students prided in being 'apolitical'. When we once protested over a student issue, IITM Director scolded us and reminisced about his times in the institute during the Emergency period.

There was not even one protest here then, he claimed with pride. 6/n

If students and faculty in IITs were not blinded by hate, they were apathetic to the concerns of the vast majority.

It is into this atmosphere where many of their peers viewed them with condescension or wrath, even if not openly, that OBC students began entering in numbers. 7/n

So it wouldn't be far-fetched to say that these students were the ones who, to a certain extent at least, democratized IITs

But those at the top have yet to let go of their archaic ideas. They have only learned to hide them and pretend to be progressive to the outside world 8/n

Which is why researchers and faculty from marginalized backgrounds have found it difficult to get into IITs. These positions are closely guarded.

Those from SC and ST backgrounds make up just 2.3% and 0.3% of all faculty, even now. 9/n
thewire.in/education/less…

For years, the reason cited by IITs was that this was because there weren't enough qualified candidates.

Which came apart when data from their own annual reports revealed that IITs weren't even implementing reservation norms in MS/PhD programs. 10/n

https://twitter.com/lonelyredcurl/status/1205809554606313472

Questions were raised and the Ministry of Education set up a committee in April 2020 to look into the matter of widespread violation of reservation norms. There were members from various IITs and relevant ministries and the chair was Director, IIT Delhi.

What did they do? 11/n

Well, what they did was simple, the committee came up with an ingenious solution to fix the problem of violation of reservation norms in faculty recruitment to IITs - exempt IITs from these norms altogether!

I'm not kidding! 12/n

https://twitter.com/lonelyredcurl/status/1338910833040973824

The reason cited was that IITs were institutions of 'national importance'.

And what of MS/PhD admissions? Again the progressive veneer of saying helplessly that there weren't enough applicants etc. Student bodies didn't buy this. 13/n
newsclick.in/Ensure-Reserva…

This oft-cited excuse of 'not enough applicants' was debunked when RTI data revealed that not only were there more than enough applicants, but the acceptance rate itself for those applying was higher in general category than in reserved categories. 14/n

https://twitter.com/pon_vasanth/status/1360604487983894528

Any wonder then why some faculty (at least) behave with the impudence that we saw Prof Seema Singh behave? Their brazenness comes from the brazenness shown by IIT administrations and they know they will find support.

But the difference now is that there will be push-back. 15/n

There are lots of things to fix at IITs, but chief among them is ensuring representation of both students and faculty from marginalized backgrounds

Whatever the action that is taken against Prof. Seema (if there will be one) one needs to be aware that it doesn't stop there. n/n

Postscript: Student bodies from different IITs had sent a petition to the President and CJI a while back and as it notes, privatization (and sponsored seats/projects in IITs) is another means of scuttling reservations. The fight is not separate!

Give the text a read.