Chennai: Old fault lines in the higher education system are seemingly appearing at the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-Madras) after a post-graduate student was found dead in Chennai hostel on Monday morning.
On Monday night, IIT students took out a rally from Yamuna hostel to the Gajendra Circle inside the 630 acre campus to protest against the IIT management for allegedly not informing them about the death of Steven Sunny, a second-year student from Maharashtra, and an attempted suicide by another student.
Students allege that there are “deep-rooted structural problems” such as academic stress, ostracisation and discrimination that the IIT administration has not addressed. One of their main demands — which were listed in a memorandum — is a comprehensive mental health study to be carried out in the campus to understand the root cause of these issues.
While the institute maintains that it has wellness programmes to support mental health of the students, the general feeling is that these measures are not enough to avoid recurrence of such tragedies.
“There are deep-rooted structural issues in the institutions. It is not just here but across IITs. There is academic stress and also students are getting ostracised, alienated on social issues like caste, class, gender. There are student-advisor relationship issues and harassment that one faces,” a research student said.
The IIT-Madras administration shared a statement over email when ThePrint contacted it regarding the allegations of the students. “The Institute endeavours and assures to improve and sustain the well-being of the students/scholars, faculty and staff on campus while constantly evaluating the various support systems in place,” the note said.
In response to specific queries, an IIT-Madras official said details would be shared after consultation with the authorities. This report will be updated if and when a response is received.
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‘It is distressing’
According to the police, Steven Sunny was found hanging in his hostel room and a hand-written note was recovered but its content is yet to be deciphered. Forensic experts are trying to access Sunny’s laptop to gather clues in the case.
The other student, a native of Karnataka who was rescued by his friends, is undergoing treatment at a private hospital.
The feeling of normalcy on the campus when a death happens is disturbing, the above mentioned research student said. “A student in Tapti hostel died by suicide. We had gone there for an event and it was very normal (before it happened)…,” he said, recalling the tragady that happened a few months ago.
“It has become normal to have at least one student suicide in a semester in the campus. It is distressing,” another student told ThePrint.
In 2021, the Union government informed Parliament that 34 student deaths were reported from IIT campuses from 2014 to 2021. In the same report, it was mentioned that five students were from Scheduled Castes and 13 from Other Backward Classes.
As recently as Sunday, an IIT-Mumbai student from a backward community ended his life by jumping off the the seventh floor of a hostel in Powai campus. Family members of the student, Darshan Solanki, alleged that he was being ostracised because of his caste.
Another research student, meanwhile, told ThePrint that students heard about the suicide attempts on Sunday and Steven Sunny’s death only by Monday evening. “We decided to go on a flash protest as a mark of solidarity.”
The Office of the Chairman Council of Wardens and Hostel Management (CCW), Dean of students, registrar and securities tried to pacify the students. But, “we needed answers. We wanted to meet the Director and flag our concern,” another research student told ThePrint.
The protest was called off after IIT-Madras director Kamakoti Veezhinathan met the students Tuesday morning and promised to convene a town-hall within 10 days.
In their memorandum, the IIT-Madras students listed 10 demands that they assert should be taken up during the town-hall.
Wardens visiting the hostel and hostel councillors on a regular basis to address the issues in the hostels; increasing the facilities at institute hospital; more opportunities for co-curricular activities for UG/PG students; research scholar guidance and addressing the professor-student relationship; discussion on stringent rule of 85 per cent attendance are among the other issues.
Student support system in campus
As of now, IIT-Madras has set up a Wellness Community Centre and established MITR and SAATHI platforms for the well-being of students in the campus. The Wellness Centre has licensed mental health professionals who help students with emotional support and counselling.
“Each year, SAATHI organises multiple mental health related events for student benefit. Distinguished speakers and trainers are invited for talks and skill development workshops,” reads the webpage of IIT-Madras.
Comprising faculties and fellow students, MITR provides peer counseling to the students in distress and collaborate among different agencies in the IIT-Madras community.
“Wellness Centre is there but it is not very effective, is evident from incidents like these,” said a student. “In 2019, the student legislative council passed a resolution to have proper mental health study done by an external committee with experts from various fields. This has not been done yet by the administration. This is negligence on its part. After the 2019 resolution, there have been several suicides in the campus,” the student alleged.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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