Adivasi Prof Alleges MNNIT Harassment After SC Directs Him to Approach Allahabad HC in Caste Bias Case

Allahabad- Dr. M. Venkatesh Naik, an Assistant Professor from the Scheduled Tribe (ST) community at Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology (MNNIT) Allahabad, has accused the institute of intensifying harassment and disciplinary actions against him. The Supreme Court recently directed him to approach the Allahabad High Court in his ongoing battle against alleged caste discrimination.

The professor claims that the institute, instead of addressing his grievances, has been targeting him with fabricated disciplinary proceedings and even false sexual harassment allegations to silence his fight for justice. " The institute sent me first notice on July 21and second notice on July 28 to intimidate me to not pursue legal proceedings", Naik told The Mooknayak.

His case, which highlights systemic bias in faculty promotions and research opportunities, has taken a disturbing turn as MNNIT authorities allegedly retaliate following his legal pursuit. Despite presenting evidence of deliberate denial of Ph.D. students and promotion delays due to his ST status, Dr. Naik has faced institutional resistance at every step.

With the Supreme Court refusing immediate relief and redirecting him to the High Court, Dr. Naik says the institute is exploiting the legal delay to further victimize him through punitive actions, raising serious concerns about the protection of marginalized faculty in India’s premier technical institutions.

In 2012, Dr. M. Venkatesh Naik, belonging to the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category, joined the Electrical Engineering Department at MNIT Allahabad as an Assistant Professor, alongside Dr. Navneet Kumar Singh from the Scheduled Caste (SC) category and Dr. Niraj Kumar Choudhary from the General category. All three were eager to contribute to academia, but disparities soon emerged that would shape Naik's career trajectory. By 2017, both Naik and Choudhary had successfully completed their Ph.D.s, marking a significant milestone. However, while Choudhary was promptly allotted six Ph.D. students across 2017, 2018, and 2019, and Singh received four during the same period, Naik was inexplicably denied even a single Ph.D. student by the then Head of Department, Dr. Paulson Samuel. This lack of allotment left Naik at a clear disadvantage, as guiding doctoral students is a crucial metric for academic progression and recognition in institutions like MNNIT.

The inequities persisted into June 2019, when Naik, Singh, and Choudhary all advanced to the position of Assistant Professor Grade-I with an AGP of 8000. Later that year, in November, Dr. Prashant Kumar Tiwari joined the department from NIT Silchar, adding another layer to the faculty dynamics. It wasn't until 2020 that Naik was finally allotted his first Ph.D. student, a delay that meant his colleagues had already benefited from three extra years of research supervision, building their portfolios and advancing their careers while Naik lagged behind through no fault of his own. This pattern of exclusion hinted at deeper biases, particularly given Naik's ST background, which he believed fueled the discriminatory treatment.

How MNNIT Tried to Silence Dr. Naik

The discrimination escalated in promotion processes. On July 26, 2023, Naik, along with Singh, Choudhary, and Tiwari, appeared for interviews for the Associate Professor position with an AGP of 9500. Despite all possessing the requisite credit points, none were promoted at that time, creating a temporary sense of shared setback. However, the situation worsened dramatically on August 23, 2024, when another round of interviews was held. Shockingly, Naik alone was not shortlisted, while the other three were allowed to proceed. The institute cited his lack of guided Ph.D. students as the reason, a rationale Naik found profoundly unjust. Having received his first student only in 2020, he argued it was impossible to have produced completed Ph.D. graduates within just three years, especially when the earlier denial of allotments had directly caused this shortfall. This exclusion felt like a deliberate sabotage, perpetuating the cycle of disadvantage initiated years earlier.

By January 6, 2025, the consequences became irreversible: Singh, Choudhary, and Tiwari were all promoted to Associate Professor, leaving Naik isolated and demoted in seniority. Tiwari, who had joined later, now surpassed Naik in rank, a direct result of the intentional withholding of Ph.D. students in 2017, 2018, and 2019. This loss of seniority not only affected Naik's professional standing but also his morale, as it underscored a systemic bias against him based on his caste. Seeking justice, Naik turned to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST). On March 5, 2025, an NCST sitting was convened with member Jatoth Hussain presiding. MNNIT's Director, Prof. R.S. Verma, appeared alongside seven other institute members, but instead of addressing Naik's grievances fairly, they presented what Naik described as false evidence to deflect blame and cover their actions. When Naik objected vehemently, Hussain forcibly ejected him from the proceedings, publicly humiliating him and denying him a proper hearing.

The ordeal continued post-sitting. NCST Director P. Kalyan Reddy failed to verify Naik's submitted proofs or initiate any inquiry into his complaints, further delaying justice and exacerbating the harassment. The minutes of the sitting were withheld for three months, only released on June 2, 2025, after Naik filed an RTI application and made persistent phone calls and requests. Even then, the recommendations outlined in the minutes-intended to rectify the injustices-were outright ignored by MNNIT Allahabad, with Director Verma denying their implementation. Naik informed Hussain about this non-compliance, but no action followed; Hussain merely advised approaching the courts, without issuing any summons to the director or enforcing accountability.

Frustrated by the institutional stonewalling, Naik escalated the matter by filing a case in the Supreme Court, naming NCST members and the MNNIT Director as parties. On August 8, 2025, the hearing lasted less than 30 seconds, with the court directing him to first approach the High Court, prolonging his fight for redress. In the interim, the institute intensified its retaliation, attempting to frame Naik for indiscipline and even fabricating sexual harassment accusations to silence him. They targeted him under Central Civil Services (CCS) rules, misinterpreting his purely academic emails to female students-covering class schedules, lab instructions, theory topics, and scholarly suggestions, as misconduct. Senior faculty members allegedly encouraged students to file complaints, twisting these professional communications into offenses as a means of harassment and pressure to withdraw his Supreme Court petition.

Throughout this saga, Naik has maintained that these actions stem from caste-based discrimination, designed to marginalize him as an Adivasi professor and stifle his complaints. He now calls for the formation of an independent fact-finding committee to thoroughly investigate his grievances, uncovering the truth behind the allotments, promotions, and retaliatory measures. Additionally, he seeks the restoration of his rightful seniority through a backdated promotion to Associate Professor effective from August 10, 2023-the date he had already interviewed, with all consequential benefits provided retrospectively, aiming to finally correct the years of deliberate inequities that have derailed his career.

The Mooknayak, had written to the MNNIT Director and Secretary seeking responses on all the allegations made by Dr. Naik. However, despite six weeks, there has been no response from the institution, further highlighting their apparent carelessness and disregard for accountability.