Addressing Caste-Based Discrimination in Academia: An Analysis of Systemic Failures

The recent arrest of two students in Coimbatore following the death by suicide of a 16-year-old Dalit boy has reignited a critical discourse on the prevalence of caste-based discrimination within India's educational landscape. Despite constitutional protections and various legislative frameworks designed to prevent atrocities against marginalized communities, the incident exposes the deep-seated systemic challenges that continue to marginalize students on the basis of their social identity. At the core of this issue is the failure of institutional mechanisms—such as anti-ragging committees and grievance redressal cells—to identify and mitigate caste-based prejudice before it escalates into extreme violence or self-harm. Education institutions are intended to be spaces of egalitarian social mobility, yet the persistence of caste-based bullying suggests a profound failure in value-based education and a lack of empathy among the student body. The incident underscores the limitations of purely legalistic solutions, emphasizing that structural change requires a fundamental shift in institutional culture and a proactive approach toward implementing social diversity policies.