As voices against the policy of a hostel canteen of the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B), segregating certain tables for vegetarian food begin to grow louder within the campus, the Dean of Student Affairs (SA) on October 5 sent an email to all students and staff on the issue, the first from the administration on the controversy.
In the email, Dean (SA) Suryanarayana Doolla said that while the IIT-B, “unlike other institutions” does not and will not have any separate vegetarian mess space, the segregation policy formulated for the mess of Hostels 12, 13, and 14 was decided upon by the Mess Council - an elected student body - which “represents the students at large”.
This is why the wardens have been asked to look into ways to resolve the conflict, the Dean said, further blaming the students who protested the policy for starting the ongoing controversy on campus. He said such “provocative and insensitive” actions will not be tolerated.
