In the 80s, caste was determined by JEE rank, branch and GPA in IITs, IIT Madras alumnus Ramesh Sriwats shared old memories.

The alleged suicide of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay student Sahil Wakode has created an uproar across the country. After this case, there is discussion and debate about caste discrimination in IITs and caste classes of students. Meanwhile, a post by IIT Madras alumnus Ramesh Srivats has gone viral. IIT Madras alumnus Ramesh Sriwats has commented on the caste of students at IIT in the 80s in his post. He wrote in the post that the caste of students in IITs in the 80s was based on JEE rank, branch and GPA.

Let us understand the whole matter in detail. Let’s find out what IIT Madras alumni Ramesh Srivats wrote in his post about the caste category of students in IITs in the 80s. Let us know if a new discussion has started after their post.

In the 80s IITs were ‘caste centric’ places

Following the alleged suicide of IIT Bombay student Sahil Wakode, IIT Madras alumnus Ramesh Sriwats posted a video on social media platform X. While writing the post, he reminisced about his old IIT Madras days, in which he quipped that IIT was caste-centric in the 1980s.

The caste order kept changing

Ramesh Srivats, an alumnus of IIT Madras, in a video posted on the social media platform

I was in IIT Madras in the 80s and it was very caste conscious. However, your caste changes every year. From JEE to Branch to GPA to Future. But never about your birth. clock pic.twitter.com/BC8PXEbB3X

— Ramesh Srivats (@rameshsrivats) September 22, 2026

There was a lot of awareness about caste

IIT Madras alumnus Ramesh Sriwats has said in his post that he was at IIT Madras in the 80s and there was a lot of caste awareness. He asserts that the caste of the students there changes every year from JEE to branch, GPA and career, but there is never any talk about caste related to your birth.

In 6 months caste became branch instead of rank

IIT Madras alumnus Ramesh Srivats narrates his informal academic and professional journey at IIT in the video. He recalls that the caste changed every year at IIT Madras. Initially there was a caste of JEE ranked students, but this trend did not last long. Within six months, the rank was changed by branch. In which computer science was at the top, followed by electronics, electrical, mechanical and other branches. He said that by the second and third years, school had lost importance even in the order of preference, as students were mostly confined to their own branch. Then came the era of GPA. In which students with good GPA without much study were included in the “genius” group. Whereas those who worked hard and got a good GPA are considered “cash cows”. So those who got low GPA after studying a lot were kept in a separate category.