The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-Delhi) saw the third student suicide last week within a little over three months, but little has changed on campus since, said student representatives from the institute.
Following the latest incident on October 31, when Panav Jain (23), a fourth-year student from its textile and fibre engineering department took the extreme step at his east Delhi home, the institute issued a fresh notification reiterating the expansion of mental health counseling services for students to outside the institute as well.
According to the notification, which was first issued on October 19 and seen by News18, students, whom the institute’s in-house counselling unit refers for the need of counseling and psychiatric services with empanelled medical facilities will be reimbursed 100 per cent for the same while those who approach these private services directly, will be reimbursed 50 per cent.
In the recent case, Panav Jain was already seeking counseling services at the institute for some time. A resident of Vindhyachal hostel, he went back home just two days before he took the extreme step. “He was a bright student and more than that he was involved in a lot of extra-curriculars. He was a mentor with the Board of Students Welfare (BSW), who mentors freshers when they join. Also, he was the vice-captain of the hostel basketball team and the cultural secretary for a year. He was not the kind of student who would not open up. He went back home and didn’t want to come back. It is strange for a person like him to get depressed and take the extreme step, which is what the institute must investigate on its own level to know the reasons, even if he had some personal issues, it’s still the institute’s responsibility since he was anyways seeking in-house counseling,” said a fellow student, requesting not to be named.
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The police investigating the case also hinted at him being depressed after a fellow student and hostel mate’s suicide, while it is still being probed. Jain was from Vindhyachal hostel, a fellow hostel mate of Anil Kumar, another fourth-year student who died by suicide on campus on September 1.
Anil’s suicide was the second incident while the first one was reported on July 10 by another fourth-year student Ayush Ashna. Both Ayush and Anil were from the 2019 BTech in Maths and Computing batch. Also, both students belonged to the Scheduled Caste (SC) community and were on extended degrees (pending credits to complete the degree programme).
After the second incident, the institute set up an Academic Progress Evaluation Committee to review the performance of those students with pending credits.
“The committee had identified 200 such students. However, steps like helping them, many of whom like Anil are from low-income groups and have to pay the entire fee for the whole period of an extension of up to six months is a challenge that weighs heavily on their minds, often tend to get anxious or depressed, are still nowhere to be seen,” said, another student.
According to student leaders, representing various student bodies on campus, structural changes are needed to address the situation.
During an Open House discussion with the institute’s director Prof Rangan Banerjee following the second incident, held on September 3, students demanded reforms such as academic moderation, increased sensitivity on the part of faculty members, and a more stress-free environment for undergraduate students.
“The faculty and administration deny looking at these suicides as a pattern. Certainly, these cannot be looked upon as isolated incidents. We need structural changes in the way the institute functions. For instance, reducing or more evenly distributing the academic load in terms of the multiple quizzes, and major and minor exams that are held on the same day taking a toll on students, currently. Allowing a breather in between the heavy exams and more sensitivity from faculty members may help BTech students a lot in reducing the stress,” said a post-graduate student on campus actively involved in student affairs.
In terms of heightened sensitivity among faculty members to students’ needs, student leaders said that a survey was carried out by them following the said Open House discussion, which showed that at least 30-40 per cent of the teaching members on campus avoided talking about mental health issues while the remarks made by some on the survey questions were even more “insensitive”.
“After the open house, it was decided that the following Monday would not be a regular teaching day and instead teachers would discuss the existing situation on campus with students. A survey was carried out on that day and the comments made by some of them were really shocking, ranging from threatening to fail them to citing theories like survival of the fittest,” the student said.
There was no response from some of the faculty members whom News18 reached out to on the concerns raised by the student community.
News18 has shared a query on the concerns raised by students with the institute. This story will be updated, when and if a response is received.
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