IIT Kharagpur withdrew a hostel dining segregation order issued at Ambedkar Hall.
Director said signage and separate seating for food choices will not be allowed.
Fresh notice directed wardens to prevent such practices across all hostels.
IIT Kharagpur has withdrawn a notice that sought to segregate seating in a hostel dining hall on the basis of vegetarian and non-vegetarian food choices, PTI reported.
The directive was issued on 16 August at B R Ambedkar Hall of Residence and asked boarders to take seats in areas earmarked for vegetarian and non-vegetarian food, the report said. The move drew criticism from students and alumni, who argued it promoted division.
Institute director Suman Chakraborty told PTI the signage had been put up without the knowledge of senior authorities. “The moment he came to know about the decision, it was scrapped following immediate consultation with others in the higher authority of the institute,” he said.
Chakraborty added, “There should not be any such signage to segregate students assembled at the dining hall based on their culinary choice. We have ordered that such signage be removed in whichever dining hall it remains with immediate effect.”
On 8 September, the institute issued a fresh notice to all hall wardens directing that any segregation of mess food, vegetarian, non-vegetarian, Jain and other categories, should be confined to the levels of preparation and distribution. “There must not be any such segregation for seating in the dining hall,” the notice said.
“The August 16 signage at Ambedkar Hall followed complaints by a section of vegetarian boarders that those eating non-vegetarian food at the same spot were causing inconvenience,” PTI reported. The institute said the earlier notice will be enforced in other hostel dining halls with immediate effect where such segregation practices are in place.
“On principle, there cannot and should not be such segregation anywhere,” the director said.
(With inputs from PTI)
