Nearly two months after intolerant groups disrupted the sitting space marked for vegetarian students for years at IIT Bombay and gave it a caste spin, the institute’s mess council has designated six tables in the mess for those eating vegetarian food.

“The mess is for all and everyone’s comfortable dining is our responsibility. There is no doubt that there are some people who can’t resist the view and smell of nonveg food during their dining, this may create health issue as well. Hence, this is necessary to designate 6 tables where only veg food will be taken by anyone,” the mess council said.

“To address this issue and create a more inclusive environment, it has been decided to designate only six tables exclusively for vegetarian food,” it further said.

“At these six designated tables, anyone can sit there with vegetarian food only,” it added.

However, the controversial campus group ‘Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle (APPSC) was quick to create a controversy again. Terming the decision as regressive, the APPSC said in a post on X, “After weeks of an ambiguous and awkward back and forth on the food segregation policy, the admin has finally revealed where they stand.”

Notably, there are 70 tables in the common mess of Hostel- 12, 13, and 14. Out of these 70 tables, only 6 have been marked for vegetarian students for more than 7-8 years. Only on these 6 tables, students are asked to not bring non-veg food items. The practice was adopted as several vegetarian students, especially those belonging to the Jain community, used to find eating extremely difficult with non-veg consumed next to them. The idea behind these six marked tables is to make the mess more inclusive and to respect cultural diversity. It’s important to note that individuals from all backgrounds, regardless of their religion, caste, or identity, are welcome to sit in this area if they opt for vegetarian meals.

After the controversy in July this year, the institute, in response to allegations, imposed a moratorium on the existing vegetarian food section and established a committee to thoroughly investigate the matter.

Following extensive deliberations and soliciting input from students, mess staff, and hostel wardens, the committee acknowledged the legitimate request for a limited number of dining tables exclusively reserved for people eating vegetarian food.