Closing The Loop
We bring you up to speed on what’s happening at IIT Bombay and the latest twist in the Tata Sons saga.
Happy weekend! Every Saturday, we try to bring stories from the past week (and beyond) to a logical closure rather than rushing off to the next big thing. If you haven’t read these stories yet, now’s the perfect time to quickly catch up over a cup of chai!
A Troubling Week at IIT Bombay
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, arguably India’s best engineering college, is in the spotlight. This time, for troubling reasons.
Last week, Sahil Wakode, a second-year student in IIT Bombay’s Department of Energy Science and Engineering, died by suicide. He had been caught using a mobile phone during an examination and was allegedly using ChatGPT to cheat.
One of the people at the centre of the controversy is Professor Suryanarayana Doolla, who was invigilating the examination and is also the Dean of Administrative Affairs.
CCTV footage released appears to show Professor Doolla confronting Sahil during the examination. After a brief interaction, Sahil gathers his belongings and leaves the examination hall. The footage does not appear to show any obvious altercation or dramatic confrontation.*There is no publicly available video showing what happened before or after this brief interaction.
There is also another, much more serious allegation.
Sahil belonged to the Scheduled Caste (SC) community. His parents have alleged that he was subjected to caste-based harassment and have filed an FIR under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. They have alleged that, “on the instructions of Director Shri Shireesh B. Kedare, faculty member Suryanarayana Doolla had been abusing him using caste terms.”* The family has demanded Professor Doolla’s immediate arrest and called for a faster investigation.*
The issue has moved beyond the IIT Bombay campus and has become politicised.
It would be highly premature for us to form any judgement at this point, and we’ll refrain from doing so. We don’t believe in media trials. We don’t know what incident (or many incidents), led Sahil to take the extreme step, or what his mental state was leading up to, during and after the examination. So we don’t want to point fingers.
But it is worth noting that this is the third suicide in six months at the IIT Bombay campus.* This is clearly a cause for concern about the state of our education system, even at some of the country’s best colleges.
Earlier this year, we wrote a two-part story on caste, campus realities and the controversy around the UGC’s equity regulations.
In the 1st part, “Degrees of Discomfort”, we looked at the caste system and affirmative action in India. And we tried to answer the tricky question: does caste-based discrimination exist in universities today?
In part 2, “Equity Under Examination”, we looked at what the now-rolled-back UGC guidelines say, and whether they solve more problems than they create.
Before you read those stories, or mull over the recent IIT Bombay incident, here’s a reminder. Most of us already carry some bias on topics like this. For or against. And when politics and protests enter the mix, as they have now, it becomes even easier to get swept up by emotion. When you catch yourself doing that, pause, and force yourself to think of the other side. Think critically for yourself. And that also includes challenging what we might be telling you.
The Tata Drama Isn’t Over
A month ago, in our story “Trusting the Sons”, we told you how N. Chandrasekaran, the Chairman of Tata Sons, had announced that he would step down from the prestigious position in early 2027, after nearly a decade at the top. Chandrasekaran said he had not received unanimous support from the board, and in the absence of that support, he had decided not to continue.
Now, in a twist straight out of a Bollywood thriller, Tata Sons says Chandrasekaran will stay on after all. The company has said that Chandrasekaran agreed to the board’s “request to reconsider his decision” and will be reappointed as chairman for another five-year term after his current term ends.*
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As if all of this wasn’t complicated enough, the same board meeting also dealt with another long-running issue. We are talking of whether Tata Sons should become a publicly listed company!
Tata Sons agreed to comply with a recent Reserve Bank of India directive that effectively requires it to list publicly, something the Tata Group has resisted so far.
A Tata Sons listing would be particularly significant for its two biggest shareholders: the Tata Trusts and the ShapoorjiPallonji Group. The Tata Trusts (and Noel Tata) have historically been opposed to Tata Sons going public because a listing could change the ownership and governance dynamics of the company. But for the Mistrys, a listing could provide a way to sell their roughly 18% stake and gain a huge amount of money, something that could help the heavily indebted SP Group.
So are we heading for a courtroom drama, or will there be an amicable settlement? We don’t know. For one of India’s most loved groups, there seems to be plenty of discord inside!
If you’re out of the loop on how the Tata Group is structured, Chandrasekaran’s tenure so far, and why tensions between the Tata Trusts and Tata Sons have been building, do check out our earlier story, “Trusting the Sons”.
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See you tomorrow with another story about our wild, wonderful world.
Curious? Read or listen to the updates of the week on what’s happening at IIT Bombay and the latest twist in the Tata Sons saga, on Dot.
Find the full story here: https://www.dot.news/post/6ab6b762e3f51700020ba255
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