Chief Minister Siddaramaiah made the announcement in response to Lok Sabha's Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's letter, requesting him to implement the Rohith Vemula Act in Karnataka.
Published Apr 18, 2025 | 6:27 PM ⚊ Updated Apr 19, 2025 | 6:45 AM
Rohith Vemula, a doctoral student of the University of Hyderabad, died by suicide over alleged caste discrimination in 2016.
Synopsis: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said his government is committed to enacting the Rohith Vemula Act, a move towards realising Dr BR Ambedkar’s vision of an equal and compassionate India.
The Karnataka government will bring in legislation to enact the Rohith Vemula Act “at the earliest”, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Friday, 18 April.
Siddaramaiah made the announcement in response to Lok Sabha’s Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s letter, requesting him to implement the Rohith Vemula Act in Karnataka.
“Our Govt stands firm in its resolve to enact the Rohith Vemula Act in Karnataka — to ensure no student faces discrimination based on caste, class, or religion. We will bring this legislation at the earliest to honour the dreams of Rohith, Payal, Darshan, and countless others who deserved dignity, not exclusion,” the chief minister said on X.
He added that it would be a step towards “realising Dr BR Ambedkar’s vision of an equal, compassionate India”.
The Congress passed a resolution at its 2023 plenary, promising to enact a special Act named after Rohith Vemula, a 26-year-old University of Hyderabad scholar, who had died by suicide on 17 January 2016 over alleged caste discrimination.
The Act, the resolution said, would aim at protecting and safeguarding the right to education of Dalits, tribespeople, Other Backward Classes, and minorities.
Gandhi, in his letter to Siddaramaiah, said the “murder” of young people was not acceptable.
“The murder of bright young people like Rohith Vemula, Payal Tadvi, and Darshan Solanki is simply not acceptable. It is time to put a firm end to this. I urge the Karnataka government to enact the Rohith Vemula Act so that no child of India has to face what Dr BR Ambedkar, Rohith Vemula, and millions of others have had to endure,” the letter said.
Payal Salim Tadvi, a second-year resident doctor at BYL Nair Hospital, died by suicide on 22 May 2019, allegedly after she had been harassed by three of her seniors. The 26-year-old doctor from the Muslim Tadvi Bhil tribe in Maharashtra was pursuing her Master’s in Obstetrics and Gyneacology.
Darshan Solanki was an 18-year-old student of IIT-Bombay when he died by suicide on 12 February 2023. He had earlier told his family of the caste discrimination he had been facing at the institute, after his friends came to know that he hailed from a scheduled caste community.
