The Indian Institute of Management (Bangalore) has come under the scanner over an alleged case of ‘caste-based discrimination.’
An Associate Professor of marketing at the centrally funded business school, Dr Gopal Das has accused the IIM-B officials of discriminating against him on the basis of caste.
Dr Das has alleged that he was denied ‘equal opportunities’ at the esteemed institution. He had registered his complaint with the President of India Droupadi Murmu during her visit to IIM-B in January this year.
DCRE claims to find ‘evidence’ of caste discrimination
Following directives from the Office of the President, an inquiry was initiated into the matter by the Directorate of Civil Rights Enforcement (DCRE) of the Karnataka government in March 2024.
DCRE claimed to have found ‘evidence’ of caste discrimination and denial of equal opportunity by senior officials at IIM-Bangalore.
The officials include Dr Rishikesha T Krishnan (Director), Dr Dinesh Kumar (Dean), Dr Devi Prasad Shetty (Chairman of the Board of Governors), Profesor Rahul De, Professor Sreelata Jonnalagedda, Professor Ashish Mishra, and Professor Chetan Subramanian.
Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Arun Chakravarthy claimed, “Evidence indicates that Dr. Rishikesha T. Krishnan, Director of IIM-B, publicly disclosed Dr. Gopal Das’s caste through a mass email, leading to allegations of huDCRE filed its inquiry report with Karnataka’s Department of Social Welfare on 26th November 2024.
Karnataka Congress govt wants IIM-B officials booked under SC/ST Act
It further accused IIM-B officials of ‘not establishing institutional mechanism’ to address the grievances of SC/ST employees.
On 9th December this year, the Department of Social Welfare directed the Bengaluru Police Commissioner to initiate action against 6 officials of IIM- B (barring Dr Devi Shetty who secured a stay on proceedings from Karnataka High Court).
The Congress government in Karnataka has now recommended booking the officials under the stringent Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 2015.
IIM-B debunks outrageous claims of ‘caste discrimination’
According to the Indian Institute of Management (Bangalore), Dr Gopal Das has been working at the business school since 2018.
The officials clarified that although he applied for the position of Assistant Professor, he was appointed as an Associate Professor based on his credentials.
It further added that Dr Gopal Das was made part of several committees and entrusted with other responsibilities like the chairmanship of the Institutional Review Board.
IIM-B highlighted that the denial of his promotion was based on harassment charges filed by doctoral students and had nothing to do with his caste.
“Dr. Das’s allegations of discrimination against the Institute and its faculty arose only when his application for promotion was put on hold due to complaints of harassment lodged by some doctoral students against him,” it stated.
The officials further added, “An inquiry conducted by IIMB, as per the rules, with a committee that included a reputed academic from the SC category from an eminent institution, found that the students’ complaints were justified.”
They pointed out, “The Diversity and Inclusion Grievance Redressal Committee (DIGRC) found Dr. Das’s complaints of harassment and discrimination to be unfounded.“
The Indian Institute of Management (Bangalore) had submitted all evidence to the DCRE, which did not consider them.
