New untouchability? Biometric attendance only for Dalits in Punjab colleges -Shailaja Neelakantan

-The Times of India

NEW DELHI: If true, this is the 21st century avatar of the unspeakable practice of untouchability. If true, this will point out who Dalit students are, to the rest of the student community, furthering discrimination.

Dalit students at the Lajpat Rai DAV College in Jagraon have alleged that authorities have instituted a separate biometric attendance system just for them, ANI reported on Tuesday.

"A separate biometric for SC (Scheduled Caste) students is reiterating the ideology of untouchability in a modern way," Sant Singh, a student, said at a protest rally held in Jagroan on Tuesday.

A Chandigarh newspaper, The Tribune, reported last week that the Punjab government decided to make biometric attendance mandatory for those students from the socially marginalised communities who avail scholarships. Official sources told the paper the directions were meant for all government and government-aided colleges. And students who do not mark their attendance, biometrically, would be deprived of their scholarships.

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