Guwahati: Assam Education Minister Ranoj Pegu asked colleges or educational institutions not to ask for caste information from students during the admission process.
Following the matter that some colleges in Assam are seeking specific caste and religion of applicants in online admission forms for graduate courses, the Assam Education Minister asked colleges not to ask for applicant’s caste information for admission.
Colleges such as Handique Girls’ College, Arya Vidyapeeth College, and Karmashree Hiteswar Saikia College have issued online forms where they had asked for students’ caste information.
Ranoj Pegu in a Tweet said, “Caste identification details are not required during admission to schools and colleges after mentioning information relating to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes or Other Backward Castes”.
Organizations like the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and Chhatra Mukti Sangram Samiti criticized the colleges for such act and claimed that these forms go beyond the standard policy that requires students to tick boxes such as Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, and Other Backward Castes for the purpose of reservation.
Colleges have asked applicants to specify if they are Brahmin, Ganak, Kalita, Kayastha, Muslim, Sudra, Vaishya or Other, the organizations said.
The student organizations asked the college authority to remove the web page seeking to specify the applicants’ caste and religion. They also demanded to investigate the mischief or face protests.
Meanwhile, the SFI president Himangshu Bora said that this is a shameless casteism and unusual in the education history of Assam. He further added that the organization cannot allow this kind of thing to happen in the state.