Thorat Committee Report: Caste Discrimination in AIIMS

The country’s premier medical college, the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi was and continues to be the centre of aggressive anti-reservation agitations that began in early 2006. Following harassment from upper caste student groups, the scheduled caste/scheduled tribe (SC/ST) students moved out of their randomly allotted hostel rooms to live in clusters among themselves. When the complaints by these students were reported in the media, the government appointed a committee headed by University Grants Commission chairperson, Sukhdeo Thorat to investigate and report on the matter.

The struggle that SC/ST students face to enter premier institutions of higher learning seems mild compared to what they have to put up with later. On top of coping with academic challenges (especially if they are the first among their families to make it to these higher echelons of learning) and a totally unfamiliar environment, many dalit students have to deal with the hostility that comes with being a “reserved category student”.