Addressing discrimination: building safer, inclusive campuses

The recurring deaths of Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) students in India’s higher education institutions — particularly in premier institutes like the IITs and AIIMS — have brought attention to systemic caste-based discrimination, exclusion, and academic pressures faced by students from marginalised communities.

Institutional accountability remains a central flashpoint. Recently, IIT-Bombay reissued its anti-discrimination guidelines after protests over Sahil Wakode’s death by suicide. The University Grants Commission’s equity rules, which were amended in 2026, had come under intense debate and were later stayed by the Supreme Court. This highlights the urgent need for strong frameworks required to address the issue of discrimination, equity and inclusivity in higher education institutions.

To discuss this matter in depth, The Hindu will be hosting a webinar titled “Addressing discrimination: building safer, inclusive campuses” on October 31 at 5 pm. The webinar will be moderated by M. Kalyanaraman, who heads the education vertical at The Hindu.

Register now for free to ask questions and interact with the panellists. The three best questions will receive a free online subscription to The Hindu.

Panellists

Rajan Gurukkal- Former V-C of M.G. University

Rajan Gurukkal was the former Vice-Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University. He was the Vice-Chairperson of Kerala State Higher Education council. He is a historian and social scientist famed for critical historiography. He is an author of several books and has been a recipient of several awards.

Ravikant Kisana- academic

Ravikant Kisana is an independent researcher and author of ‘Meet the Savarnas’. He was previously the Dean at School of Liberal Education, Galgotias University and Associate Dean at School of Liberal Arts, Woxsen University. He is the creator of ‘Buffalo Intellectual’ a digital platform for caste and cultural commentary.

Anita Rampal- Former Dean of Faculty of Education, DU

Prof. Anita Rampal was the former dean of Faculty of Education at University of Delhi. Prof. Rampal was one of the core experts that worked with the NCERT towards the development of the National Curriculum Framework 2005, and has similarly been a member of several national policy level committees in the areas of school, teacher and higher education.

Shruthy Harilal- PhD scholar, IIIT Delhi

Shruthy Harilal is a PhD candidate at IIIT Delhi, with research interests in caste, gender, and social inequalities. Her work engages with questions of social stratification, marginalisation, and power through a sociological and ethnographic lens.

Abhishek Malhotra, Assistant Professor

Abhishek Malhotra is an Assistant Professor of Economics at Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi and is a Visiting Fellow at India Foundation. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics and specialises in the field of Urban Economics and Economic Policy. He served as Secretary (Partnerships and Finance) at the Y20 India Secretariat during India’s G20 Presidency. He has also worked with the office of Chief Economic Adviser at the Ministry of Finance, Gol. and as a research associate with IIM Ahmedabad.