Summarized by – Ravikant

• Bahujan students are discriminated in elite colleges— their weakness in English is shown as proof of lack of merit. They can’t complain to teachers because teachers also feel you shouldn’t be there. Ragging, violence, mocking, bullying, failing in internal exams/viva are very common
• Rhetoric is fine, but work has to be done for the movement to be built. People with resources and tools have to reach out. The effort has to be made to bring other backward castes, who are historically not part of it, into Ambedkarite movement
• At Nalanda, preference given to students from castes with low representation in Ambedkarite movement… so they have the incentive to bring their communities into this.
• Admission criteria at Nalanda favors the weaker students, dropouts or educationally weak are more preferred. Half seats are reserved for women. Scholarships are given and no student was sent back because of the lack of fees
• Bahujan students have shown true merit— students work day and night, stupendously hardworking, incredible success stories came out. Their success has proven Nalanda successful. The whole community has come forward to support it. There is the narrative of the Dalit-Bahujan community, that it does not take care of its own. It is not true, Nalanda has proven that. Tremendous support by the community, both financial and social, which has led to the success of Nalanda
• Future plans – a full-fledged campus in works for Nalanda Academy. Hope is more such academies open in other parts of the country, hundreds of such academies are needed.

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