Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP KC Venugopal questioned the central government’s alleged indifference towards the high dropout rate of students from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes in central higher education institutions.
During Zero Hour, Congress MP from Rajasthan in the Rajya Sabha, Ve Nugopal, said that as per the recent reply given by the Central government in Parliament, 13,626 students from SC, ST and OBC communities have dropped out of central universities in the last five years. The Education Ministry, in its response, said that the dropout rate was high because students had many other options.
Mr Venugopal asked, “Is the government saying that only SC, ST and OBC students have these options?”
About 13,626 SC, ST & OBC students have dropped out from IITs, IIMs & Central Universities in the last 5 years.
Students in these prestigious institutions face serious problems.
I urge the GoI to take immediate steps to address concerns regarding this discrimination and… pic.twitter.com/nPThiFeoCg— Congress (@INCIndia) December 8, 2023
Venugopal expressed concern over the high rate of suicide in these institutions. He said that from 2014 to 2021, 122 students committed suicide, of which 24 were from Scheduled Castes and 41 from Other Backward Classes.
Mr Venugopal urged the government to take immediate steps to stop this dropout rate and address the concerns of these students.
In five years, 13 thousand SC, ST and OBC students left studies from IIT, IIM and Central University
Over the last five years, more than 13,600 students from reserved categories have discontinued their studies in central universities, Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). This information was given in the Lok Sabha on Monday. Union Minister of State for Education Subhash Sarkar provided these figures in a written reply to a question by BSP member Ritesh Pandey in the Lok Sabha.
