Chennai: An Assistant Professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras has resigned alleging caste discrimination.
His e-mail to other faculty members was widely circulated on social media. The professor, Vipin Pudiyath Veetil, in his mail claimed that he had been subjected to discrimination because of his caste ever since he joined the institute in 2019.
“The discrimination came from individuals in positions of power irrespective of their claimed political affiliations and gender,” he wrote.
He said he was leaving the IIT for another institution because of this and would ‘pursue appropriate actions to address the matter’.
Reacting to the resignation, a media statement from IIT-Madras on Friday said the Institute has no comments on this email. “Any complaint received by the Institute from employees and students is attended to promptly through the established process of redressing grievances,” it said.
In his mail, Vipin suggested that the institute constitute a committee to study the experience of Scheduled Caste and Other Backward Class faculty members.
He also suggested that the committee should have SC/ST commission, OBC commission and psychologists.
He said those who were discriminated against might benefit by filing complaints with the committee at the institute and by moving courts.
He ended his mail with a rhetoric: “Societies progress one small step at a time, or do they?”
According to the institute website, Veetil, a post-doctoral faculty member in the Department of Economics, completed his schooling in China and bachelor’s in economics at Hindu College, Delhi University.
He has spent time in institutions in Europe and then earned his Ph.D. at George Mason University in the US.
