SC/ST Students Cell, IIT Bombay

SC/ST Students Cell Survey Report-Feb, 2022

Introduction
The SC/ST Student cell started in 2017, and in the beginning, the Cell emphasized the redress of student
complaints. The Cell slowly started realizing that they needed to reach out to the SC/ST student
community to gain their trust so that they could seek redress for their issues. At the same time, the Cell
also started considering sensitisation programmes for whole institutions. As an institute, we did not have
much information and data to understand the life of SC/ST students on campus, what problems they face
or their needs. There were also demands from many formal and informal student groups that wanted the
cell to function proactively to address the issues. Hence it was essential for us to conduct surveys and
gather information so that the cell could formulate effective policies to address the needs of SC/ST
students.

In the month of December, 2021, we started deliberating on the conducting survey. During the same time,
another institute body, Insight, also surveyed to understand the caste biases among all students. They
included the EWS among the reserved category, making it difficult to segregate the data regarding caste.
Hence we felt cell needed to conduct a special survey only among SC/ST students and gather information.
We deliberated for months about what data we needed, how to frame the questions etc.

We designed a questionnaire which had both multiple choices and open-ended questions. We sent a
survey to the SC/ST students across branches and programmes through their official email. We received
388 responses from 2000 SC/ST students, which means that 19.4 percent of students responded to our
survey.

The SC: ST respondents ratio is 2.52: 1 (278 SC and 110 ST) students responded. Ideally, the ratio should
reflect the percentage of respective reservations, that is 2:1. But this lack of response from the ST students
suggests the lack of fulfillment of ST reservation itself.

Among the respondents, 58.8 percent (228 students) of bachelor's, 25.8 percent (100 Students ) of masters
and 15.2 percent (59 students) of PhD students responded to the survey. Until now, we described the
compositions of the respondents as it is crucial for understanding the information we gather through this
survey.
Family Background
The Nature family background helps us to understand available support systems to the students.
Education, occupation and socio-economic conditions of parents define children’s access to various
resources hence their abilities as students. Students with a difficult family background face many kinds of
issues in studies despite their ‘brilliance’ and the institute needs to be sensitive towards the requirements
and provide them equal opportunity so that they could enhance their abilities.

Education and occupation of parents were the exception in the entire survey where some respondents
skipped the answer. 15 students did not answer about their mothers education and 13 students did not
answer about their mother's occupation of total 388 respondents. 19 students did not answer about their
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fathers education and 31 students did not share information about their father’s occupation. Refusal to
answer parents' education and occupation clearly indicates that they were not comfortable to answer these
questions because most probably their parents are not ‘well educated’ and do not have ‘respected and
secured’ jobs.

The mothers of 47.2 percent of students and 66.9 percent fathers are educated till graduation or more than
graduation. 15 percent of students' mothers and 7.9 percent fathers do not have any formal education.
26.5 percent mothers and 13.3 percent fathers do not have secondary education.

23 (22 males, 1 female) students (6 percent)1 responded that both their parents do not have formal
education, they are the first in their family to go to school and college. 42 (39 males, 3 females) students
(11.2 percent) responded that both their parents did not even have secondary education. 128 students
(34.1 percent) responded that both parents have no graduation.

The occupation of parents is another important indicator to understand the SC/ST students and their
material and social belongings. 64.8 percent of mothers are home makers and 24 percent are government
employees while 61.3 percent of fathers are government employees and 3.4 percent are home makers.

1
The highest denominator is used though there is a different number of respondents and this practice is followed in
the entire report.
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14 percent of fathers and 5.3 percent of mothers work as labor in the informal sector. Only 3.2 percent of
mothers and 12 percent of fathers work in private sector jobs. 69 students (18.4 percent ) reported that
both of their parents are government employees, and 18 students (4.8 percent) said both of their
parents are employed in informal labor.

Both the educational background and occupations are very significant to understanding the ‘Social and
economic belonging’ of the students. The survey informs us that almost 70 percent of the SC/ST
students either of their parents are government employees. Hence they come from lower middle
class and middle-class backgrounds. Many students' families work in the informal sector and find it
challenging to meet their daily expenses. We mentioned that many students did not feel comfortable
sharing information regarding occupation and education. It is a high possibility that the parents of those
students are employed in the daily wage market. Understanding family background is very useful because
SC/ST student cell can use gathered information to design programmes and policies to meet the needs and
expectations of the SC/ST students and respond to them more sensitively so that those students could
fulfill their dreams.

Profile of the SC/ST Student in IIT Bombay

We designed surveys in such a way that the SC/ST Student cell would get a broad understanding of the
SC/ST students, their issues and needs so that the cell could help in a better manner. Almost 22 percent
(21.9 ) of students are the first person in their families to learn till graduation. This is a very
substantial number of students who do not have any one in the family to guide them or inform them of
anything.
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English Language

In the age of globalization, English has established itself as the primary language of communication
across the world. Fluency in writing and speaking English is an important social marker. Many reports
informed us that the majority of students who study in government schools and vernacular languages
belong to SC/ST and other marginal communities. In IIT Bombay, 74.2 percent of SC/ST students
attended English medium school, and 25.8 percent of students attended vernacular medium school
in their 10th standard. This is very significant that 3/4 of students are from an English medium
background. Medium of schooling does not give us complete information about their ease in writing,
reading and speaking English
.

Notably, 80 percent of SC/ST students feel comfortable reading English, 67 percent in writing and
only 42.52 percent of students feel ease in speaking English. This differential ease in writing, reading
and speaking is also part of the marker of the SC/ST student in the Institute. Many students in the
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informal discussion said that degree of fluency in English is a major aspect of how one experiences
discrimination on campus.

Coaching
Dr. Timothy A. Gonsalves chaired a committee which recommended the reservations for girl students in
IITs, also known as Supernumerary seats. The committee pointed out that “coaching plays a significant
role in preparation for JEE (Advance)” exams, and one of their justification for women's reservation was
lack of access to coaching. Coaching not only plays a central role in access to the IITs but also provides a
network to the new students. These existing networks facilitate new students in various ways. SC/ST
students come from socially and economically difficult backgrounds. 20.8 percent of SC/ST students get
admission to IITs without any coaching. A significant number of students feel lonely, most of whom are
also from a vernacular background.

Mapping the life of SC/ST Student in IIT Bombay

The survey also intended to understand the experience of SC/ST students on campus, but such exploration
needs much detailed study. In a given scope, through this survey, we were able to clearly indicate specific
patterns of experiences of the students on campus. We hope that more such explorative studies will be
conducted in the near future.

How safe is the IIT campus for SC/ST students

Caste is one of the defining characteristics of Indian society, which is also liked closed with hierarchy,
discrimination and violence. Social history informs us that public assertion of identity By SC/ST
communities always faced violence from upper caste communities. Due to fear of discrimination,
exclusion and violence, students are afraid to talk about their own caste identities openly.
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29.4 percent responded very firmly that they are not comfortable discussing their caste identity in the
institute. 33.8 percent of students said they could discuss caste only among their 'very close' friends, and
another 7.2 percent of students feel unafraid to talk among 'extended friend' circles. The term 'very close
friend' signifies a friend who comes from the same social background, and there is a high possibility that a
'close friend' belongs to the same caste community. The 'extended friend circle' describes the possibility
(though very small) that a friend belongs to someone other than the SC/ST category. Effectively this
indicates that almost 63.2 percent of students are not comfortable to talk about caste identity openly. Only
26.5 percent of students are confident in discussing their caste identity openly. The above chart maps how
hostile, insensitive and unsafe a place IIT Bombay campus is for the SC/ST students.
A safe space is a place where one should not feel afraid to talk, at least about discrimination. One can
understand that SC/ST students may not want to reveal their identity but do they speak about caste-based
discrimination? Or they feel that they may face backlash from students and faculty. 21.6 percent of
students feel they might face backlash from students and faculty if they talk about caste discrimination,
and 25.5 percent of students are unsure of their reaction. This massive number of SC/ST students who
don't feel safe discussing caste-based discrimination on campus.
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The immediate tasks in front of the cell as well as for IIT as an Institution is to create IIT Bombay as a
safe and secure space and to build the confidence of students. So that they could openly assert their
identity and seek redressal in case of discrimination.
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