After Bombay, IIT-Hyderabad Introduces ‘Pure Veg’ Section` (image- facebook/IITHyderabad)
The decision to mark separate tables for vegetarian students in IIT Bombay has invited criticism from students and teachers across the campus. The same instance has been being reported in IIT Hyderabad as well. The students of the IIT Bombay campus expressed their concern about potentially being forced to consume veg meals if they fail to secure registration for non-vegetarian food at the canteen.
As per the New Minute report, the students of IIT Hyderabad received an email introducing a survey among hostel students. The survey aimed to know whether the students were interested to register for a dining hall exclusively serving vegetarian food. The survey was closed on the following day and another email was sent to students who had chosen the “pure vegetarian” option, giving them a one-day window to complete their registration for it.
By the initial week of August, a new vegetarian section has been introduced in the new mess dining hall. Initially the IIT Campus had two canteen- a new one and an old one. The old canteen does not have such segregation. A student from IIT said that the new canteen had the vegetarian section and is used by the teachers and staffs. She mentioned that the vegetarian section had separate utensils. The result of the survey was not made public, she added.
An IIT teacher, who does not want to be identified said that most of the teachers in the campus belongs to upper caste groups.
Soon after introducing the veg-section, now the campus has decided to have an exclusive vegetarian dining hall in the coming semester. The authorities have sent another survey to gather feedback before proceeding with the selection of catering services. This development came soon after few students protested against separate vegetable space in the campus.
The Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle (APPSC), representing the students, condemned the incident and protested by tearing down the discriminatory posters. Through their investigation through RTI, they have found out that, there is no official policy for food segregation at the institute.
