RTI Reveals Stark Caste Disparity Across 17 IITs: 75% Faculty Unreserved Despite Influx of SC, ST, OBC Applicants
RTI data reveals faculty representation gaps across 17 IITs, with IIT Hyderabad reporting 123 vacancies and limited SC, ST and OBC representation.
India's premier technical institutions continued to face questions over the representation of marginalised communities among their faculty as fresh RTI data filed by an alumnus revealed disparities across 17 Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), including IIT Hyderabad, where three-fourths of existing faculty were listed under the unreserved category, although SC, ST and OBC community candidates accounted for over 71 per cent of applications for faculty positions in 2025-26.
The institute has 123 vacant posts, including 82 designated for these three communities, and 13 of its 16 departments have no faculty from the ST community. Similar gaps emerge across 16 other IITs.
“The only way to counter casteism is to have more faculty from these marginalised categories. Most departments in these institutes do not even have a single SC, ST or OBC faculty, hence there is no one for students from these communities to approach in case they face issues,” said Dr Pranav Jeevan P, an alumnus of IIT Bombay and IIT Kanpur who filed the RTI applications.
According to IIT Hyderabad's response, three of its 357 faculty members belonged to the ST community, 26 to the SC community and 59 to Other Backward Classes (OBC) groups. It had 19 vacant posts reserved for the ST community, 23 for SC community and 40 from the OBC groups. This data came against the backdrop of the recent demonstrations at IIT Bombay and allegations of institutionalised caste-based discrimination at IITs.
The artificial intelligence department at IIT Hyderabad had eight teachers, all listed as unreserved, and received 91 applications from SC, ST and OBC communities candidates during 2025-26, according to the RTI reply. The climate change department received 81 applications from these communities and had two teachers, both unreserved. IIT Kharagpur had 712 unreserved faculty members among 781, and just two ST community members. Eleven of IIT Guwahati's 16 departments had no ST community faculty, while IIT Ropar has only three OBC group members among 197.
With regard to the functioning of institutional bodies, IIT Hyderabad confirmed that it had an SC/ST Cell, which met students annually. It had five psychological counsellors for approximately 6,300 students, while a psychiatrist visited twice a week. None of the counsellors belong to the SC, ST or OBC communities. The University Grants Commission suggests one mental-health professional for every 500 students.
The institute's counselling budget rose from `2.44 lakh in 2021 to `17.9 lakh in 2025 but information regarding expenditure was not supplied. Its SC/ST Cell reported no complaints, while the institute did not provide the requested activity reports or yearly funding details. Its Committee for Gender Concerns reported 69 cases between 2021 and 2026, without disclosing their nature or outcomes.
Counselling strength variesdacross IITs as IIT BHU reported two professional counsellors for approximately 9,500 students, IIT Roorkee eight for 10,536 students and IIT Kharagpur 12 regular counsellors and a psychiatrist on contract for 14,764 students. IIT Ropar reported having six counsellors and two visiting psychiatrists for 2,953 students.
“There was a suicide at IIT ISM Dhanbad on October 31. The RTI data show two previous suicides on this campus in the last five years, one student from the SC community and one from the OBC community. Even then, they have about one counsellor for 2,500 students against the UGC recommended 1:500,” Pranav said. “They only have three counsellors for over 7,700 students. They need 13 more to reach the proper ratio for mental health support.”
