With the increasing number of suicide stories in prestigious institutes, a systemic
reform in place will definitely do good. Read on.
IIT council meets to discuss system overhaul plan. The unsettling
trend of suicides at the IITs seems to have turned even bigger in 2011.
This year, to date, the IITs have already witnessed seven suicides, with two taking
place just last week. This is the highest figure reported in the past four years.
The numbers, according to the IIT fraternity, cannot be dismissed as an aberration
and could now figure on the agenda of the upcoming IIT council meeting scheduled
in the Capital on September 14.
"An IIT director has requested the human resource development ministry to put the
issue of increasing suicides on the agenda of the council meeting. I think this
will be taken up (during the meeting)," an IIT director, who did not wish to be
identified, said.
The council is the highest decision making body of the IITs and is headed by HRD
minister Kapil Sibal.
According to the data provided by the HRD ministry in the ongoing session of the
Lok Sabha, IITs reported two suicide cases in 2010, four in 2009 and five in 2008.
But this year, the figure has touched a new high and already stands at seven.
Internal inquiry committees set up by various IITs have found depression, academic
load, peer pressure, including pressure from family to perform, as primary reasons
that compel some of the IIT students to take the extreme step.
“We are all very concerned about what is happening. Though there are number of factors
that are responsible for academically linked suicides at IITs, these can be curbed
by systemic reforms.
The council is not an insensitive body and I am sure some of these reforms will
come up for discussion at the meeting," IIT Kanpur director Sanjay Dhande said.
Reducing pressure associated with the entrance examination, providing students with
a wider variety of papers and courses to choose from and allowing them to complete
the engineering programme at a more relaxed pace are some of the reforms that Dhande
thinks could help lessen the academic load on IIT students.
"The IITs can no longer remain technical shops. It’s time that they are turned into
universities that teach all subjects. This will enable students to study a unique
combination of subjects and they won’t feel as constrained and pressured as they
do. This was a recommendation made by our committee as well," former UGC chairman
Professor Yash Pal said.
Though suicides at IITs is not a new phenomenon, the increasing number of extremely
bright students resorting to such a step has left the fraternity and directors quite
baffled. Leading researcher and former IIT faculty member Goverdhan Mehta attributes
this to a change in the mindset of the new generation.
"Youngsters these days have grown very ambitious. While this quality has its advantages,
it also makes it more difficult for students to accept any kind of disappointment,"
he said.
Y Sweeya (20):
September 1, 2011 (IIT Patna): She jumped to death from the fifth floor of her hostel
last week.
A school topper from Hyderabad, Sweeya was a third year student of B.Tech in computer
science and reportedly unhappy with her performance in the fifth semester.
B. Gowrishankar (36):
August 31, 2011 (IIT Madras): A final year M.Tech student, Gowrishankar was found
dead in his hostel room after he allegedly consumed poison. His reason for taking
this extreme step has not been identified.
Dinesh Ahlawat (19):
August 4, 2011 (IIT Delhi): A first-year student of chemical engineering, Ahlawat
was found hanging in his hostel room. Sources claim he was afraid of not performing
well in the CBSE compartment exam.
Pankaj Chowdhury (25):
July 20, 2011 (IIT Kharagpur): A final-year student of metallurgy, Chowdhury was
reportedly depressed after he failed to finish his course. He hanged himself to
death in his hostel room.
Nitin Kumar Reddy (22):
May 4, 2011 (IIT Madras): A final-year student of mechanical engineering, Reddy
could not handle the fact that he had failed a semester. Scared that this would
affect the job he was offered recently, he hanged himself in his hostel room.
Manish Kumar (20):
Feb 6, 2011 (IIT Roorkee): Kumar, a second-year student from Muzaffarnagar, killed
himself by jumping from the fifth floor of his hostel.
His family alleged that he took this step after a few students made "casteist" remarks
about him.
V ANOOP (26):
Feb 23, 2011 (IIT Madras): Pursuing a dual degree M.Tech programme, Anoop should
have finished his course in 2009. But he couldn’t complete his arrears and projects
even with a two-year extension.
This allegedly drove him to suicide.
Courtesy: Yahoo News
