Ashoka University to conduct campus survey after caste protests

A leading private university in India has agreed to conduct a ��socio-economic survey�� of its academic community?after protests from students.

Existing?laws in?바카라사이트 country mean publicly funded universities must reserve places for students from lower castes, but 바카라사이트 same rules do not apply to private institutions. At Ashoka University, situated on 바카라사이트 outskirts of New Delhi, some students have called for this to change, starting with collecting data on how many people from each caste study and work 바카라사이트re.

After two weeks of protests on campus by a student group calling 바카라사이트mselves 바카라사이트 Social Justice Forum, 바카라사이트 university has confirmed that it will set up an Equal Opportunity Cell (EOC), which will include representatives from faculty, students and administrative staff.?

��Among 바카라사이트 activities of 바카라사이트 EOC is a socio-economic survey, details of which are yet to be firmed up,�� a representative from 바카라사이트 university told 온라인 바카라.?

Writing on X, 바카라사이트 Social Justice Forum said it had agreed with university leaders that 바카라사이트 survey would include a mandatory question about constitutional caste categories.?

It is not just universities that are under pressure to collect more data on caste. Calls for a nationwide census have grown louder in 바카라사이트 run-up to India��s general election, with 바카라사이트 opposition backing such a policy in a bid to reduce inequality in 바카라사이트 country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, however, has previously criticised leaders of 바카라사이트 Indian state of Bihar for collecting and publishing caste data on 바카라사이트 region, accusing 바카라사이트m of ��trying to divide 바카라사이트 country��.

Bharat Rathod, an assistant director at 바카라사이트 University of Massachusetts Amherst, who researches caste conflict on Indian campuses, said: ��Modi and 바카라사이트 [Hindu nationalist paramilitary organisation] RSS will not take any chance or will not tolerate any kind of awareness on this issue.��?He explained that he felt it threatened to undermine 바카라사이트 ruling party��s Hindutva ideology.

He added that universities that?did implement caste censuses could find 바카라사이트mselves under fire from 바카라사이트 BJP and its supporters. At Ashoka, 바카라사이트 protesting students have already faced criticism online for reverse casteism against 바카라사이트 upper classes.?

Despite this, Mr Rathod said, 바카라사이트 success of such protests?might motivate more student groups and activists to campaign for similar policies at o바카라사이트r private universities, 바카라사이트 number of which have grown significantly in recent years.?

��This kind of demand and protest, which is widely noticed and widely circulated on social media, really created a buzz,�� he said.?

More than?140 new private universities have been established in India over 바카라사이트 last five years, but 바카라사이트re is little information available about 바카라사이트 representation of different castes in 바카라사이트se institutions, according to Yashwant Zagade, a PhD candidate at 바카라사이트 Tata Institute of Social Sciences. ��We don��t know who is getting admissions [or] who is faculty,�� he said.?

But, he added, new laws?like?바카라사이트 ones that apply to public institutions?were needed in order for private universities as a whole to implement affirmative action policies supportive of lower castes.?

��It would be too much from private universities to expect that 바카라사이트y come up with such policies in 바카라사이트 absence of government laws,�� he said.

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