In March 2024, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi established a 12-member committee to address a deepening institutional crisis: five student suicides in 2023 and 2024.
Led by Santosh Kumar Chaturvedi, a senior psychiatrist from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, the committee included student representatives, as well as former and serving faculty members.
Its mandate was to investigate the underlying issues contributing to the campus meltdown and propose comprehensive reforms, reported Free Press Journal, today, Monday, April 7.
What were the key issues identified?
The committee’s report highlighted a toxic campus culture that demanded immediate reform from the student body.
Major problems included:
- The intense pressure from coaching culture, and entrance exams eroding students’ well-being.
- A grading system that fostered unhealthy competition among students.
- Excessive academic expectations contributing to student distress.
- Pervasive biases creating an exclusionary environment, adding to mental health challenges, and raising concerns about suicides.
Solutions proposed
To address these systemic issues, the committee recommended several reforms:
- Publish a clear policy defining unacceptable behaviour, and suggesting remedial measures.
- Mandatory training for students, faculty, and staff on inclusivity, equality.
- Lighten the first-semester academic burden, and introduce courses on life skills, language skills, and co-curricular activities.
- Establish counselling centers with specialised staff to support students from marginalised backgrounds, and reduce stigma around mental health. - Revise criteria for leadership roles and promote teamwork to foster a more collaborative environment.
IIT Delhi failing to implement?
While the committee submitted its comprehensive report in August 2024, there has been little visible progress on its recommendations.
Committee members have reportedly been left uninformed about any advance in the policy implementation, and IIT Delhi officials have refrained from making public statements.
The report itself noted a recurring issue at the institute, its tendency to form committees to address problems, only for the recommendations to be ignored later, stated the Free Press Journal report.