2nd campus death in 2 wks: IIT focus on support system, academic & social load
Times of India | 5 May 2025
Kolkata: The second death in a fortnight and the third in a semester has shaken the IIT Kharagpur campus and sparked a fresh round of alarm among the students and teachers. They claimed that such a tragic loss of another student's life within such a short interval of time is "painful" and "unheard of" in recent memory. Third-year civil engineering student Md Asif Qamar's death is also the fourth death in less than a year and the ninth death in five years that the premier institute witnessed.
TOI reported on May 4 that psychiatrists, counsellors, alumni, former faculty members, professors, and student representatives will be part of the IIT-KGP's committee that will probe reasons behind the spate of students' suicides on the campus.
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Dean of students affairs Bhargab Maitra said, "We have already fixed the structure of the committee that will have two well-known senior psychiatrists, two alumni, an IPS officer, current and former faculty members who have knowledge of student welfare activities, student representatives, and our legal cell. An associate dean will be the convenor. The names are yet to be fixed."
The kin of Aniket Walkar, the fourth-year student who was found hanging in his room at J C Bose Hostel on April 20, wrote to IIT acting director Amit Patra, seeking an independent probe into circumstances leading to his death and also urged authorities to find reasons behind large number of suicides at IIT-Kharagpur. Maitra added that the task of the committee is to holistically review the system and assess the academic and social load that the students are facing.
Patra said: "The second death in a fortnight has shown us the urgent need to set up the committee and study the campus environment and figure out the concerned areas for improvement of the system. We have already taken some student welfare measures and restructured our counselling centre to make the support system better. Once the committee's report arrives, we will act according to its suggestions to improve the system." He added that the administration prepares an incident report after every unfortunate incident. "This time too, we will internally review and probe the incident to find out what more we can do. The police are already investigating the case. We also held a meeting with the students' representatives to understand their views and concerns so that we can take short-term actions," Patra added.
The Scholars' Avenue, a media body on the campus, posted on its Facebook page, "This marks the third such heartbreaking incident on campus this semester. It is a sobering reminder of the importance of looking out for one another..."
Teachers and students on the campus term the back-to-back incidents of campus death as "shocking". A student said, "It is heartbreaking and devastating to hear about another death of a student in a gap of 15 days from the campus, which is supposed to be our home for the next four to five years." Many students pointed out that the administration must be responsible for providing a good support system for the students, be it counselling, peer programmes, and if necessary, should make administrative changes to bring about reforms. Another student shared, "There is a lack of compassion and empathy in the IIT-KGP system, which includes students. We are so busy fighting our own battles that we do not care for others."
A teacher said, " I think there are some serious lapses in the system which need immediate attention." Another senior teacher pointed out, "Each case of death is different. We are constantly working to improve the support system but it is disheartening to witness the loss of young lives. It is also true that there cannot and should not be surveillance into the private life of a student, who is an adult."