A section of Jadavpur University students on Friday narrated complaints of caste discrimination and lack of mental health support to the Supreme Court-appointed National Task Force, saying such issues cause trauma and distress among the student community.
The students alleged that in some departments, teachers treat students based on their family backgrounds and often humiliate those with weak English pronunciation. This, they said, contributes to mental health problems.
They also highlighted the absence of adequate counselling facilities on campus, which they said worsens students’ mental health struggles.
The task force was set up by the Supreme Court in April to investigate the rising student deaths across higher educational institutions in India. It was tasked with identifying factors behind student suicides, including academic pressure, discrimination, financial burdens, and stigma around mental health.
The four-member team, which visited IIT Kharagpur on Thursday following the deaths of four BTech students earlier this year, came to Jadavpur University on Friday to meet with students.
The task force clarified that their visit, which coincided with the drowning death of a third-year JU student on Thursday night, had been pre-scheduled.
Amirul Islam Mollah, a postgraduate student who spoke to the team, said: “We shared instances of caste discrimination that cause severe trauma for students. We told them that students with weak English are humiliated and given poor marks by some teachers instead of receiving help to improve.”
Another student, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “We informed the task force that JU’s counselling services are extremely inadequate, with hardly any professional counsellors available.”
JU officials said they address such issues when reported. “If there is any complaint of caste discrimination, we deal with it,” said Indrajit Banerjee, JU’s acting registrar, while acknowledging the need to strengthen counselling services.
Metro has reported caste discrimination at JU. On November 18, 2022, it was reported that the then-head of the international relations department had written to the vice-chancellor, Suranjan Das, urging action against an assistant professor accused of caste-based abuse toward an OBC PhD student. The student’s supervisor was later changed.
In 2019, a library science student also accused a professor of making casteist remarks.
Imankalyan Lahiri, who headed JU’s international relations department in 2022, told Metro on Friday: “Caste discrimination is a reality on our campus. Students face humiliation based on caste. We hope the task force recommends measures to end this.”
However, Parthapratim Roy, secretary of the Jadavpur University Teachers Association, rejected these claims. “JU teachers strive to help students regardless of caste. Such allegations are unfounded,” he said.
Arman Ali, a task force member, said, “We have listened to the students but cannot comment on cases on a particular campus. After completing all campus visits, we will make our recommendations.”
On Friday morning, the committee questioned JU’s dean of students, Bappaditya Mallick, about the student’s death by drowning.
Mallick said: “We informed them that there appears to be no foul play. The student died accidentally.”
“The committee is aware of the JU student’s death on Thursday night,” Ali said.