- By Akansha Pandey
- Fri, 18 Jul 2025 07:40 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
The Karnataka government is planning to introduce a bill named after Rohith Vemula, a Dalit PhD scholar who died by suicide in 2016. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is likely to introduce the bill in the upcoming monsoon session of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. The proposed draft of the Rohith Vemula Bill is designed to protect students from SC, ST, OBC and other disadvantaged communities from caste discrimination and harassment in higher educational institutions.
What Is The Rohith Vemula Bill?
Rohith Vemula Bill aims to protect students from the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Other Backwards Classes and Minority communities from acts of exclusion and injustice based on social, economic or religious backgrounds, including denying admission or demanding money from SC/ST students, and failing to provide promised facilties.
The bill also proposes strict action against the institutions found violating the provision of being "open to all classes, castes, creed, gender or nation." The Karnataka government also won't provide any financial aid or grant to such institutions.
The bill also proposes to form special courts to ensure speedy trials of offences and the appointment of at least 1 special public prosecutor for every special court and 1 in each Bench of the High Court.
As per the provisions of the bill, any kind of discrimination will be considered a serious and non-bailable offence, and the aggrieved student or their family will be able to complain directly to the police.
If this bill becomes law, the first offence will be punishable with one year in jail and a fine of Rs 10,000. Also, the courts can order the offender to pay compensation of up to Rs 1 lakh to the victim. If the same offence is repeated, the punishment will increase to 3 years in jail and a fine of Rs 1 lakh.
Why Is This Bill Called The Rohith Vemula Bill?
In January 2016, a student of Hyderabad University, Rohith Vemula, died by suicide. In his suicide note, he cited caste discrimination as the main reason behind the extreme step. His death sparked outrage across the country and a debate over the marginalisation of Dalit students in Indian universities.
In April this year, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi wrote to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah urging the state government to enact a law in Vemula's name to tackle caste discrimination in educational institutions. The same proposal was also part of the Congress manifesto for the Karnataka assembly elections.
Who Was Rohith Vemula?
Rohith Vemula was born on January 30, 1989, in the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh. He was a Phd student at the University of Hyderabad, where he was the on-campus member of the Ambedkar Student Association, which fights for the rights of Dalit students on campus. There were a total of five Dalit students who were protesting against the University’s housing facilities.
Rohith was doing his Phd in sociology, and he was also keenly interested in reading revolutionary literature, which inspired him to become a writer.