New Delhi, Oct. 30: The students' council of IIT Madras has recommended a ban on distribution of pamphlets on campus, drawing protests from a Dalit and backward class students' group.

The Students' Legislative Council (SLC), comprising students representatives from different departments, cited environmental concerns while recommending the ban in a special meeting last week.

"Students read posters and throw them here and there. The campus is littered with pamphlets. The SLC has decided to recommend a ban on distribution of pamphlets for environmental reasons," a council member said.

However, the Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle (APSC), a Dalit and backward students' group that uses pamphlets to publicise its activities, criticised the decision, claiming the intention was to check dissent and curb debates on societal and campus issues.

The Board of Students, a body comprising students and teachers set up by the Senate, will take the final decision on the ban. Most likely, it would be approved as the administration was for it, students' council sources said.

"The dean of students is unofficially against distribution of pamphlets," a member said.

APSC member S. Ramesh claimed the administration was using the students' body to target the Ambedkar circle, which was banned last year for circulating pamphlets criticising the Prime Minister's policies and the caste system. The ban was later revoked.

The APSC was started in 2014 to promote discussion on societal, cultural and campus issues, Ramesh said. He said it was the only students' body to use pamphlets on campus.

Right-wing student bodies, like the Vivekananda Study Circle, were opposed to the APSC, he said.

In recent months, the APSC has published and distributed pamphlets on issues like tuition fee hike in IITs and caste-based discrimination on campuses, among other things.

"Pamphlet distribution is a very effective way to attract more students and convey our ideas. Banning pamphlets is against the idea of freedom of expression and the trend of debate and dissent," said Ramesh.

An SLC office-bearer refuted the charge. "The APSC has more than 30,000 followers on Facebook. They are free to spread their ideas on social media," he said.

On the charge of littering the campus, Ramesh said the administration had demarcated areas where posters could be used.