An associate professor of the Indian Institute of Management - Bangalore (IIM-B) has accused the business school’s director and other colleagues of caste discrimination. The allegations were made by Gopal Das, who teaches marketing at IIM-B, in his letter to President Droupadi Murmu. In his letter, Das alleged that he was denied fair promotions and was subjected to harassment because of his scheduled caste status. 

According to a report by the Times of India, the President’s office had ordered the Karnataka Government to initiate a probe into the matter, following which the Directorate of Civil Rights Enforcement (DCRE) also began an inquiry. 

Das alleged that he had to face exclusion from various activities in the institution, denied access to resources and also humiliated because of his caste status. 

However, according to the TOI, IIM-B authorities have denied these allegations and said that the institution maintains a “zero-tolerance” policy towards any kind of discrimination. Declining to comment any further, the management said that they have given a detailed response regarding the matter to the “authorities concerned”. 

Over the years, several students and professors across the various universities in India have highlighted the issue of caste-based discrimination in academia, based on statistics and lived experiences. 

According to the Government data, over 19,000 SC, ST and OBC students had dropped out of all central universities, Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) between 2018 and 2023.