Overview

• The institute said it has never issued a directive to separate diners by diet and called such seating contrary to its equality policy.
• The advisory instructs halls to segregate only at food preparation and distribution, not at tables.
• Director Suman Chakraborty encouraged communal dining and described any localized seating as personal preference, not policy.
• The clarification followed an email by B R Ambedkar Hall’s mess general secretary telling roughly 1,300 residents to comply with seating rules.
• Former students and faculty said formalized seating divisions would depart from longstanding practice of shared tables on campus.