Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Madras) Assistant Professor Vipin P Veetil has alleged caste discrimination at the institute and has resigned from his post. In the resignation letter that is now viral on the internet, the Economics Department faculty has claimed discrimination at the hands of 'individuals in position of power irrespective of their claimed political affiliation and gender.'
The institute has maintained that all mattters of student and employee grievances would be attended to promptly as per the process.
Veetil stated in the letter that he faced discrimination ever since he joined the institute in March 2019. "There were multiple specific instanced of discrimination and I shall be pursuing appropriate actions to address the matter," reads the mail.
"One of the curious phenomena I've observed at the institute is that the Bayesian prior among many is that caste discrimination is rare occurence. My own experience and conversations with members of SC and OBC communities, suggest that the Bayesian prior is far from true," it further read.
He also suggested that the institute constitute a committee to study the experience of Scheduled Caste and Other Backward Class faculty members and that the committee should have SC/ST commission, OBC commission and psychologists.
He concluded his mail saying: “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 PhD at George Mason University in the US.
According to Times Now, the premier institute has neither denied nor commented on the veracity of the claims. Vipin Veetil has been unreachable ever since the letter went viral on social media.
