New Delhi: BITS Chancellor and former IIT Delhi director V Ramgopal Rao on Wednesday backed IIT Bombay professor Suryanarayana Doolla amid the controversy surrounding the death of a BTech student, saying he was "disturbed" to see Doolla being "vilified" and called for a fair examination of concerns raised against him.
IIT Bombay on Wednesday set up a 10-member high-level committee to probe the circumstances surrounding the alleged suicide of B Tech student Sahil Wakode, an official said.
Doolla, named in the FIR which alleges abetment to suicide on grounds of caste discrimination, has been sent on leave to facilitate an impartial probe into the case.
"I am disturbed to see Prof. Suryanarayana Doolla being vilified over the recent controversy at IIT Bombay. I know Surya personally. He is one of the finest faculty members I have known in the IIT system, and a gentleman of the highest integrity. Whatever concerns have been raised should be examined fairly. A public campaign against an individual serves no one," Rao said in a post on X.
Rao, who is an alumnus of IIT Bombay and has also worked there, said the "problems we are seeing are all primarily because of the 'one size fits all' approach in IITs".
"With students coming through an intensive coaching culture, and classrooms bringing together students whose JEE Advanced ranks range from single digits to five digits (in the same class- for example CSE in IIT Delhi), we now have highly heterogeneous classrooms across the IIT system. Language also further adds to the challenge.
"The question to ask therefore is, with such heterogeneity, can we expect every student to learn at the same pace? There is nothing wrong with opening the doors of our best institutions to students from different backgrounds. The question is whether we have addressed this heterogeneity in our teaching-learning methods," he said.
Rao noted that a faculty member cannot pitch every class at several levels at once. "Move too slowly, and some students lose interest. Move too quickly, and others are left behind. In my classes, I have also seen students with excellent JEE Adv ranks struggle. Coaching had prepared them to solve familiar types of questions quickly.
"Many are lost when they see a question which they haven't solved before. This is not a difficulty confined to any admission category. The move from coaching to independent learning can be hard for anyone," he said.
Rao suggested that one solution could be moving BTech programmes to five years.
"Those who meet the credit requirements could complete it in four years, or perhaps three and a half. Others could spread out their courses over five years and receive more academic help, including recorded lectures, online material and support with language where needed. The pace would be decided by performance within the IIT, not by a student's admission category or entrance rank.
"Calling it a five-year programme for everyone has a psychological advantage. Students who need more time would simply be following the programme as designed, while those who are ready could complete it sooner. No one would be singled out for taking a fifth year," he added.
The Mumbai Police Crime Branch is conducting a probe into the death of Wakode, a second-year BTech student.
He was found hanging in his hostel room on the evening of September 18, hours after being caught while allegedly using a mobile phone to access ChatGPT during a mid-semester examination.
This report was published from a wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.
