Draft Rohith Vemula Act Has Provisions For Compensation to Students Facing Caste Discrimination

New Delhi: The draft bill named after Rohith Vemula that is being brought by the Congress government in Karnataka has provisions for providing compensation of up to Rs. 1 lakh to students who face caste-based discrimination in higher education institutions.

According to the provisions of the the Rohith Vemula (Prevention of Exclusion or Injustice) (Right to Education and Dignity) Bill, persons guilty of discriminating against SC, ST, OBC and minority students will face a jail term of one year and pay a fine of Rs 10,000, reported Deccan Herald.

In case of caste-based discrimination, the government will hold heads of higher education institutions liable and the institutions will also lose government aid or grants.

The proposed law is named after Rohith Vemula, a Dalit PhD scholar at the University of Hyderabad who died by suicide in January 2016. His death led to nationwide protests.

The Congress government in Karnataka is bringing the bill after Congress MP and Lok Sabha leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to enact the law.

"The Union government brushed the incident under the carpet although it was clear that Rohith Vemula was targeted because of his (Dalit) caste. The US, too, has a similar law. In fact, some states there have declared that caste-based discrimination is as bad as racial discrimination. Our biggest export must be human resources and not the caste system,” said Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge, who provided inputs for drafting of the bill.

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