Tamil Nadu: Caste discrimination in Virudhunagar school; education department orders probe

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu School Education Department is probing allegations of discrimination against students of Class 10, who belong to the Scheduled Caste community in a high school in the state's Virudhunagar district.

The department ordered a probe after a group of Class 10 students of the Government High school, Perapatti, complained that they were discriminated against by the teachers including the headmistress and that they were being verbally abused with caste expletives being used against them. The students also complained that they were allegedly forced to clean toilets.

"The students were being discriminated against in this school. A Class 10 student was forcefully dismissed from school and TC was given. The teachers speak ill of the Scheduled Caste students," the parent of a student told IANS.

There are many students belonging to the Scheduled Caste category in this school and there were complaints that almost all these students were abused using caste slurs. A Class 10 student's parent had also lodged a complaint with the Virudhunagar District Collector, J. Megnath Reddy alleging that the boy was verbally abused by the school's headmistress.

The Collector's office told IANS that they have indeed received a complaint from the family and have initiated an investigation into the same.

School Education Minister, Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, told IANS that they have already sought a report from the Chief Educational Officer, "and if the allegations are found true, stringent action will be taken against those indulging in such activities".

Of late, several instances of caste-related violence and other issues have been cropping up in many parts of Tamil Nadu. In 2021, there were five back-to-back killings in Tirunelveli and Madurai districts between the SC and OBC communities.