Prem Birhade, a Dalit youth living in London, has claimed that he lost a job opportunity in the United Kingdom because his college in Pune delayed sending a verification certificate to the employer. Birhade, who studied at Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce, said in a video on Instagram in Marathi, “I have lost my job because of the college. This company had asked my college if I had studied there. The college did not respond. Why? Because you don’t want us to get ahead in life. This is the struggle of me, my family, my community.”
The college denied any caste-based discrimination and stated that the bona fide certificate had been issued on October 14. “Neither the college nor any staff member has ever raised or discussed his caste at any time. The refusal to issue an Education Reference is based on institutional norms and disciplinary considerations,” the college said.
The incident drew protests from the Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) outside the college. VBA leaders said Birhade’s family plans to file a criminal complaint, while the college stated that it had lodged a complaint against the student for allegedly abusing women teachers.
Prakash Ambedkar told The Hindu, “The delay raises many questions about the intentions. Why was there a delay in replying to the company’s email? You don’t have the right to sit over the matter.” He also posted on X that Birhade was “forced to forfeit the opportunity… because Prem is a Dalit!”
Gajanan Ekbote, chairperson of the Progressive Education Society that runs the college, said the college acted promptly. “The company wrote two emails to us — one on September 30 and another today morning. It didn’t mention any time frame for a response. The student sought a recommendation letter and a bona fide certificate. We couldn’t issue the recommendation letter without police verification, which is still pending. But we shared the certificate within 10 minutes after receiving the second email today,” he said.
