Dalit youth alleges loss of job in U.K. due to caste discrimination by Pune college

Prem Birhade, a Dalit youth based in London, has alleged that he lost an employment opportunity in the United Kingdom due to caste discrimination in India after the college he studied in — Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce in Pune — failed to provide the verification certificate to the employer in time.

In a video on Instagram four days earlier, Mr. Birhade said in Marathi, “I have lost my job because of the college. This company had asked my college if I had studied there. The college did not respond. Why? Because you don’t want us to get ahead in life. This is the struggle of me, my family, my community.”

The college denied the allegations and shared a copy of the bona fide certificate issued on 14 October. “We would like to make it clear that neither the college nor any staff member has ever raised or discussed his caste at any time. The refusal to issue an Education Reference is based on institutional norms and disciplinary considerations,” the college said in a statement.

The Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) held a protest outside the college. Its leaders claimed that Mr. Birhade’s family intended to file a criminal complaint against the college for the lost opportunity. The college said that it had complained against the youth for abusing women teachers.

VBA founder Prakash Ambedkar told The Hindu: “The delay raises many questions about the intentions. Why was there a delay in replying to the company’s e-mail. You don’t have the right to sit over the matter.”

In a post on X, Mr. Ambedkar alleged that the youth was “forced to forfeit the opportunity… Because Prem is a Dalit!”

‘Responded promptly’

Gajanan Ekbote, chairperson of the Progressive Education Society that runs the college, said, “The company wrote two e-mails to us – one on September 30 and the other today [Friday] morning. It didn’t mention the time period for responding to the e-mails. The student sought a recommendation letter and a bona fide certificate. We couldn’t give a recommendation letter without police verification, which is still pending. But we shared the certificate within 10 minutes of the company writing to us for the second time, today.”