Set up panel to study Hyderabad varsity problems: Teachers' forum to Smriti Irani

A Hyderabad University forum of teachers representing SC/ST members on Tuesday requested Union HRD Ministry to set up a committee to study varsity-specific problems in the backdrop of suicide by a Dalit scholar and sought a law to make caste discrimination a punishable crime.

The SC/ST Faculty Forum blamed Rohith Vemula's suicide last month on "social atmosphere of discrimination and exclusion faced by the Dalit students on the campus".

"A separate committee for University of Hyderabad should be set up to study the University-specific problems and undertake reforms in consultation with students, faculty and administrators," the Forum said in a letter to HRD Minister Smriti Irani.

Rohith, a PhD student at the central university, was found dead in a hostel room on the campus on January 17.

"We believe some temporary measures here and there will not serve any purpose. We need some basic reforms and steps to address the problems of discrimination and related issues of the Dalit students," it said.

The Forum said MHRD/UGC should immediately enact a law to make caste discrimination a punishable crime.