Following the tragic death of an MTech student at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur on January 10, the Students' Senate held an unofficial meeting with the administration on January 12, Friday. The deceased Vikas Kumar Meena from the Aerospace Department was allegedly terminated from the institute on December 26, said the student senate via a social media post. The Student Journalism Body of the institute (@voxiitk) tweeted on January 15 at 2.50 PM.
Speaking to EdexLive, an official from the institute confirmed that IIT Kanpur Director Prof S Ganesh held discussions with PhD students and it was about the recent death of the students. "A couple of days after the death was reported, the director had held discussions with the PhD students and the main focus was on counselling for students," the official told EdexLive
"Concerned about the suicide cases, the director inquired about the stress students undergo. As per an outcome of the meeting, it was decided that a full-time clinical counsellor would be appointed for the benefit of students," the official added.
What do students say?
Revealing the outcomes of the meeting on X (formerly known as Twitter) on January 15, the Student Journalism Body of the institute said, "Today marked an important day in the history of IIT Kanpur, with the admin's prompt response to the Students' Senate's various demands."
"A list of demands was made and the President, Students' Gymkhana forwarded the same to the administration authorities. A prompt response was demanded, denial of which would lead to stern measures by the students", the statement shared via the post mentioned.
As per the statement, some of the demands put forth to the administration are:
1. Revamp and reinstatement of the Department Student Activity Committee (DSAC). Under this, the Institute Counselling Service (ICS) will nominate a DSAC for each department, in consultation with the Head of Department (HoD).
2. Overhaul of academic IT infrastructure, mainly Pingala, the official portal for students to pay fees and forms and OARS (Acclaimed Education & Research in Science)
3. Semester grade report email
4. Reappeal for termination should be forwarded directly to the Departmental Post Graduate Committee (DPGC) student nominees from the State Post Graduate Committee (SPGC) after finalising the list
5. Faculty mentorship programme by allowing around 20 students to the faculties
6. Mess in Hall 14 and a system of room delivery for food
7. Allotment of Old SAC space to students for their activities
8. Involvement of student nominees at all levels
9. Formation of Masters Monitoring Committee (MMC)
According to the tweet by the students' senate, the administration has agreed to most of their demands and made a few alterations to a couple of the demands.
When asked about the demands listed out by the students' senate, the official claims that the meeting was predominantly about counselling for students.
