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| Jamia Millia Islamia University lands in new controversy over gender equality |
New Delhi's Jamia Millia Islamia University's recent change in hostel rules for women again highlights the issue of gender discrimination in our society.
Scroll reports that on June 1, the University scrapped the hostel rule which previously allowed women students to stay out until 10 pm twice a month, with prior permission.
They now have to be in by 8 pm.
Male students are bound by no such restrictions.
The article rightly notes that many educational institutions in the country, from Delhi to Bangalore, have such discriminatory regulations against women.
The issue, while significant, is hardly new.
There are probably only a handful of institutions like IIM, Bangalore, which prefer not to breathe down the necks of their students; or, if they do, they at least do not discriminate based on gender.
Regulationsonstudents, especially those that disadvantage women, seem to be more common throughout India. And it is globally known too.
A 2012 New York Times article which reported on these issues especially struck a chord because of its headline : 'Does Your College Treat You Like a Child?' it asked.
But it is precisely because policies of educational institutions over-regulating students, especially women, are widespread and common, that they need to be highlighted and debated more often. With a hope that it would catalyze positive change.
The case of Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) probably illustrates this.
When two young women with an expat faculty member's support tried to discuss within their wider community, issues concerning gender discrimination and campus safety, VIT suspended them; the Professor ultimately had to return to the US.
But after media coverage and support from 10,056 people for the Change.org petition later, VIT allowed the students to return.
While the present VIT regulations for male and female students living in hostels does look stifling, at least, at first glance, they do not seem to differentiate between them based on their gender.