An important thing has come to light in a mental health survey conducted by the SC/ST student wing of IIT Bombay in June last year. The results of the survey said that caste discrimination is the root and major reason for mental health problems among reserve category students in IIT Bombay. Nearly one-fourth of the SC/ST students who participated in the survey were suffering from mental health problems, while 7.5 percent of them were suffering from “severe mental health problems and self-guilt”.
The SC/ST student wing at IIT Bombay (which comprises student and faculty coordinators) conducted two surveys last year, one in February and the other in June. The first survey was aimed at collecting data to understand the life of SC/ST students on campus and the problems they face, while the second survey focused on the mental health of reserved category students.
The survey was sent to all SC/ST students of the institute (about 2,000 of them), of whom 388 participated in the February survey and 134 participated in the June survey. The findings of the surveys have not yet been officially released by the institute.
Last month, first year IIT student Darshan Solanki committed suicide. Caste discrimination was revealed to be the reason behind his death; Darshan’s family had also alleged caste discrimination in the campus. On the contrary, an interim report of the institute had denied discrimination on the basis of caste.
According to the June survey findings, SC/ST students prefer to keep their identities hidden to avoid allegations of reservation. The report said that despite the hostile environment even at places like IITs, 9 per cent of students (12 students) cited caste as an important reason for their mental health problems. Four students identified racist and discriminatory attitudes of professors as having adverse effects on their mental health. In big institutions like IITs, caste is visible in the form of reservation, it is seen as lack of merit.
The first survey conducted in February last year said that “caste works very differently in different places and manifests itself in different ways. The survey shows that about a quarter of SCs /ST students come from local, rural and backward socio-economic family backgrounds, which generally make them less proficient in English, a deficiency seen as a reflection of their caste identity, according to the findings of the survey conducted in June. At least 23.5 per cent of the students need attention by the institute.
Responding to the survey, IIT Bombay said in a statement that the findings of the survey have not yet been shared with the administration.IIT Bombay: Caste discrimination is worsening mental health
