PhD scholar Sachin Kumar Jain died by suicide on March 31, making it the third death in two months at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras. Responding to allegations that wrongful treatment meted out by the guide is the cause behind the suicide of the 31-year-old, Prof V Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras told EdexLive that the IIT Madras has an internal enquiry committee and after any unfortunate or untoward incident, the committee makes it a point to convene. "The committee has met and will continue a detailed inquiry," he said.
Student suicide at premier institutes has spiked in recent times and made headlines, like the suicide of Darshan Solanki from IIT Bombay and the accusations of caste discrimination he had to face that led him to take the extreme step.
In this context, when EdexLive asked Prof Kamakoti what additional steps IIT Madras, with NIRF (National Institutional Ranking Framework) Ranking number one in 2022 in the overall category, was taking to ensure that the mental health of students is taken care of, he said that along with professional organisations with expertise in mental wellness, multiple steps are being made by the institute based in Chennai. Soon, a wellness survey is also in the offing.
Time-bound grievance redressal schemes and regular meetings between faculty and students are also initiatives IIT Madras takes. "A website — https://behappy.iitm.ac.in — was released yesterday (April 3) which will have details of all such initiatives," he said.
