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28 Dec 2024 : The Hindu Editorial,

Editorial 1: Marginalised by caste, marginalised in educationO

Context

Rising costs in higher education are one of the many issues affecting Dalit students.

 

Introduction

Atul Kumar, the son of a daily wage worker and from the Scheduled Caste community, lost his seat at IIT Dhanbad after he was unable to pay the seat booking fee of ₹17,500 that was required to secure his admission. His case gained widespread attention on social media, prompting the Supreme Court of India to intervene by exercising its extraordinary powers under Article 142 to grant him admission. There are many and similar cases like Atul’s, but which never draw media attention or receive justice, leaving many deserving students without opportunities due to financial constraints and systemic inequalities.

 

The rise in tuition fees

  • The Struggles of dalit students: The struggles that Dalit students face echo the challenges of pre-Independence India when they were barred from enrolling in educational institutions because of their caste.
    • While these historical restrictions were overt, the situation now is more insidious.
  • Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan and iee Increases: Under the “Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan,” the Government of India has been pushing for self-reliance in institutions, leading to a significant increase in fees in many government colleges and universities such as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), the Indian Institutes of Management, the central universities, and the National Law University.
    • For instance, in 2016, the IIT council’s standing committee agreed to increase the undergraduate tuition fees by 200%. This meant a fee increase from ₹90,000 to ₹3 lakh a year.

 

Government Response to Fee Hike

  • In response to the criticism regarding the fee increase, the committee set up by the government asserted that students from marginalised communities would benefit from the Vidyalakshmi scheme, which offers interest-free scholarships.
  • However, while this initiative aims to provide support, it remains insufficient to fully address the financial challenges faced by these students, especially as fees continue to rise.
  • Increased Fees in IIMs: The hike in fees was implemented in seven IIMs including increased tuition fees.
    • IIM-Lucknow hiked it by nearly 30%.
    • IIM-Ahmedabad and IIM-Shillong by 5%.
    • IIM Lucknow by 29.6%.
    • IIM-Calcutta by 17.3%.
    • IIM-Kozhikode by 23.1%.
    • IIM-Ranchi by 19%.
    • IIM-Tiruchirappalli by 20%.
  • IIT-Delhi Fee Increase: IIT-Delhi increased tuition fees for full-time M.Tech students in the semester in 2022-23.
    • The total academic fee is now ₹53,100, which does not include hostel fees. This is a 100% increase from last year’s fee of ₹26,450.

 

Impact on Marginalized Communities

  • The frequent hikes in fees have made it increasingly difficult for students from the marginalised communities to afford higher education or even pursue studies through loans.
  • With rising costs in the Indian education system, many students from the marginalised communities are unable to even consider enrolling in prestigious institutions such as the IITs and the IIMs despite securing competitive ranks.
  • As a result, while some students manage to cope with the financial burden, there are others who are overwhelmed by the stress and the inequality in academic institutions.
  • This pressure, exacerbated by the high cost of education, has a human angle too.
  • In 2021, data showed that over the past seven years, 122 students from the IITs and the IIMs had ended their lives, many due to the financial strain of rising fees and the anxiety of securing employment.

 

The issue of dropouts

  • Dropout Rates due to rising fees: Many students who manage to enrol in prestigious institutions eventually drop out due to their inability to afford rising education fees.
    • Human Resources Development Ministry reported that 2,461 students dropped out of IITs in just two years (2017 and 2018).
    • Over the past five years, more than 13,500 students from Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC) dropped out of courses in central universities, IITs, and IIMs.
  • Dropout Numbers in Institutions
    • In central universities:4,596 OBC students, 2,424 SC students, and 2,622 ST students dropped out.
    • In IITs:2,066 OBC students, 1,068 SC students, and 408 ST students dropped out.
    • In IIMs:163 OBC, 188 SC, and 91 ST students dropped out.
  • Caste-Based economic marginalisation: One of the key reasons behind the poor economic conditions of the Dalit community is that their identity in India is still largely defined by caste.
    • Dalits continue to be denied the opportunity to perform work on par with others in society.
    • This has left them economically marginalised and socially vulnerable.
  • Stigmatisation and oppression: Dalits in India are considered an oppressed and discriminated class, often labelled as “untouchable.”
    • Historically, this stigmatisation has meant that Dalits have been denied access to education.
    • The term “untouchables” refers to those forced into the most undesirable and degrading jobs.

 

Disparities in Employment and Education

  • Discrimination in sewer and septic tank jobs: A recent survey in 29 States on urban sewer and septic tank workers revealed that 92% of these workers belong to Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC).
  • Caste representation in IITs: A 2019 report by former Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal revealed that 95% of faculty positions in IITs were held by individuals from upper caste backgrounds, with only 5% allocated to SC, ST, and OBCcategories, despite these groups representing 70%-80% of India’s population.
  • RTI Findings at IIT-Bombay: An RTI filed by IIT-Bombay students exposed disparities:
      • 24 departments had no SC faculty.
      • 15 departments lacked ST representation.
      • 9 departments had no OBC faculty.
  • These statistics highlight the deep-rooted caste-based inequalities that persist in both employment and education.

 

The barriers still exist

  • Improvement in enrolment post independence: After Independence, with provisions in the Constitution and welfare mechanisms, Dalit school enrolment rates have improved over time.
    • Despite this improvement, Dalit children continue to face significant barriers in education.
  • Barriers to education: Dalit students face poverty, social discrimination, and caste-based prejudice.
    • They are often judged based on their clothes, language, and other external markers, making it difficult to integrate with their upper-caste peers.
  • Caste-Based remarks and social isolation: In many cases, caste-based remarks and discrimination wound Dalit students, leading to social isolation.
    • Some students succumb to the emotional toll of this prejudice, highlighted by tragic cases, including:
      • A woman postgraduate medical student in a medical college in Maharashtra.
      • Two students from IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi.
  • The persistent shadow of casteism: These incidents underscore the persistent shadow of casteism and harassment over the aspirations of Dalit students.
    • This situation raises a critical question: how can these prestigious institutions effectively address caste-based issues and foster a safe, inclusive environment for all students?
  • Pressure from family expectations: The unfortunate incidents of student suicides point to the immense pressure students face in the education system.
  • Many students are burdened by their families’ expectations that completing a degree will solve their economic problems.
  • However, unemployment in India remains high, adding to the pressure and mental toll on students.

 

Conclusion

An RTI filed in 2024 about IIT placements showed that approximately 8,000 students (38%) across 23 IIT campuses remained unplaced this year. For students from the marginalised communities, this struggle is even more pronounced, as their caste identity often doubles the challenges they face in securing jobs. These issues underscore the pressing need for systemic reforms in education and employment to alleviate the pressures on students and address caste-based disparities.

Editorial 2: Rules that still manacle the captive elephant

Context

There are ambiguities in the Captive Elephant (Transfer or Transport) Rules that may facilitate illegal trade in elephants.

 

Introduction

In India, where elephants are revered as sacred symbols of wisdom and strength, privately-held captive elephants live a stark contradiction. Reflecting on this grim reality, the Kerala High Court recently likened the lives of these captive animals to an “eternal Treblinka”, drawing a poignant comparison to the infamous Nazi extermination camps. Elephants used for religious purposes, entertainment and tourism are subjected to much cruelty and forced to behave in unnatural ways. These social animals are subjected to isolation and abusive training methods to break their spirit. Although elephants have the highest protection under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, they have been at the forefront of practices that seek to capture them from the wild for a life in captivity.

 

New rules and loopholes

  • Captive Elephant (Transfer or Transport) Rules - March 2024: In its intent to regulate potential misuse of captive elephants in private custody and curb illegal captures from the wild, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) published the Captive Elephant (Transfer or Transport) Rules in March 2024.
    • These rules facilitate the transport and the transfer of elephants and also specify the procedure of transfer of ownership.
  • Ambiguity in procedures and potential for commercial exploitation: However, the ambiguity in procedures and rationale for transport and/or transfer of wild elephants could pave the way for further commercial exploitation.
    • For instance, it states that when an owner is no longer able to maintain an elephant, the ownership of that elephant may be transferred.
    • However, there is no obligation for this exchange to be non-commercial.
    • Elephants can, therefore, be traded as movable property.
  • Transport provisions: The rules also provide for transport of the elephants temporarily.
    • Again, there is no explicit requirement to justify the transportation of a privately owned elephant across or within State borders on an interim basis.
  • Risk of leasing elephants for commercial activities: States with a high number of privately owned elephants could potentially lease their elephants to serve as props, from religious ceremonies to weddings to political rallies.
    • These are activities that compromise the welfare of elephants even as they objectify and commodify them.
  • Economic valuation of elephants: This regularisation of the transfer of elephants for religious activities, tourism, or any other commercial ventures effectively contributes to the economic valuation of elephants, treating them as tools for generating income.
  • Risks to elephant conservation: Thus, the legislation could be misused by private elephant owners to essentially “rent out” their animals, which risks incentivising the capture of wild elephants and directly undermines elephant conservation.

 

Microchip misuse, births in captivity

  • Captive Elephants in India - As of January 2019: There were 2,675 documented captive elephants in the country, with a deeply disturbing implication. When these elephants die, they are replaced by elephants captured from the wild.
  •  Microchipping initiative (2002): As part of Project Elephant's 2002 initiative, most captive elephants were microchipped to track elephants with valid ownership certificates. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that microchips are removed from deceased elephants and inserted into wild-caught elephants to legalise illicit captures.
  • Issues with the rules: The Rules do not require the removal and destruction of microchips implanted in deceased elephants, which should occur in the presence of forest officials.
    • The Rules do not mandate the submission of a post-mortem report when an elephant dies during transfer or transportation, leaving a critical gap in monitoring and accountability.
    • Cycle of Captivity: The Rules perpetuate the cycle by legally recognizing the birth of calves in captivity, allowing them to be classified as owned captive elephants.
  • Proposed solutions: A mandate for humane, non-invasive birth control measures for elephants in private custody is needed to break the cycle of commercial exploitation and prevent further elephants entering captivity through birth.
    • A shift from using live elephants in temples, processions, and tourism to electronic elephants is crucial.
    • Civil society, temple committees, and the government should lead the change to protect wild elephants.

 

The trade between States

  • Reports of Elephant transfers: There are numerous reports of elephants being transported from the northeastern States to the southern and western States.
    • One such instance involved an elephant being “gifted” to a Delhi temple by a private owner in Assam.
    •  In all these transfers, the new rules have served as an enabling agent for the trade in an endangered species.
  • Action Taken by the Elephant Project (August): Following reports and objections from this writer and others, the Elephant Project, under the aegis of MoEFCC, took action.
    • It issued an office memorandum that flagged the illegal transfers of captive elephants.
    • The memorandum reiterated the need for strict adherence to Captive Elephant (Transfer or Transport) Rules, 2024.
    • It emphasised the mandatory digitisation of the genetic profiles of captive elephants.
  • Ministry’s efforts and shortcomings: The Ministry’s efforts to address captive elephant transfers are commendable.
    • However, they fail to adequately remedy key issues in the Rules.

 

Conclusion

Regrettably, the legislation lacks the teeth to ensure the meaningful protection of captive elephants. Without language that speaks the welfare of elephants and safeguards them from any form of commercial exploitation, the paradox of the elephant being venerated as a sacred animal while also being the most exploited wild animal will persist.