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115 IIT students died by suicide in 20 years, Madras highest with 26, Bombay 10

May 02, 2024 11:21 AM IST

Between 2005 and 2024, IIT Madras recorded the highest number of deaths at 26, followed by 18 in IIT Kanpur, 13 in IIT Kharagpur and 10 in IIT Bombay

Mumbai: At least 115 students of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) died by suicide since 2005, data received through a Right to Information (RTI) query filed by Dheeraj Singh, an IIT Kanpur alumnus and founder of the Global IIT Alumni Support Group, has revealed. Of these, 98 deaths were on campus, including 56 deaths by hanging, while 17 were off campus.

It was the death of IIT Bombay student Darshan Solanki on February 12, 2023 which prompted Singh to file an RTI application, seeking data on the deaths of IITians across the country over the past 20 years. (HT PHOTO)
It was the death of IIT Bombay student Darshan Solanki on February 12, 2023 which prompted Singh to file an RTI application, seeking data on the deaths of IITians across the country over the past 20 years. (HT PHOTO)

As per the data, between 2005 and 2024, IIT Madras recorded the highest number of deaths at 26, followed by 18 in IIT Kanpur, 13 in IIT Kharagpur and 10 in IIT Bombay. This year, five deaths have been recorded so far.

It was the death of IIT Bombay student Darshan Solanki on February 12, 2023 which prompted Singh to file an RTI application, seeking data on the deaths of IITians across the country over the past 20 years. “The higher education department, which comes under the union ministry of education, initially rejected my application and asked me to file separate RTIs for individual institutes,” said Singh. “After an appeal, the ministry instructed all IITs to share the data.”

However, over eight months, only 13 out of 23 IITs shared data with Singh. “I received some data from the RTI response,” he said. “I also collected data from authentic sources in the public domain, which included National Crime Record Bureau statistics and answers to questions posed in Parliament.”

A plethora of high-profile suicides by IIT students over the past year has generated headlines and much concern. “I just want to highlight the huge pressure on students in the premier institutes of the country,” said Singh, who has called for serious measures to tackle the academic and social pressure on IIT students. “There is an urgent need to reform IIT education to make it less stressful for students, faculty and parents.”

In internal surveys conducted by various IIT student organisations after Solanki’s death, 61% of respondents believed that student deaths were due to academic stress. This was followed by job insecurity (12%), family issues (10%) and harassment (6%). Eleven percent of students ticked the ‘Other Reasons’ column.

After Solanki’s death, the University Grants Commission took various steps and issued advisories to higher education institutes to promote physical fitness and sports and give priority to students’ health, welfare and psychological and emotional well-being on campus. There is also a Government of India initiative called Manodarpan which was launched during the Covid-19 pandemic to provide psychological support to students, teachers and families for mental and emotional well-being.

The government has also advised institutions to make the system more “robust”, which includes prevention, detection and remedial measures to address the possible causes of suicides. However, mails from HT to the joint secretary (IITs) and secretary in the department of higher education went unanswered.

Preventive campus measures included IIT-Bombay dropping one subject per year for first-year students, a decision taken in the IIT-Bombay senate held last year after Solanki’s suicide. IIT-Bombay officials said the move would take the pressure off freshers and also give them more leisure time to adjust to campus life.

A senior IIT professor pointed out that after succeeding in a rigorous competition, students earned their place in the IITs but after that faced significant institutional and societal pressures. “Whether they come from impoverished or affluent backgrounds, students encounter similar societal pressures of doing well,” he said. “We must address sensitive issues at both institutional and societal levels that can help alleviate the mental strain on students.”

A former IIT-B professor remarked that students who got into IITs were coached well to crack the Joint Entrance Exam. “But once they reach IIT, there is no spoon-feeding and they have to be good learners,” he said. “After some unfortunate incidents, IIT decided to cut down academic pressure and chalk out mental health programmes.”

The professor also pointed to the global slowdown and reduced placement opportunities. “In the last few years, placements at all IITs are not on par,” he said. “Final-year students also succumb to the stress and pressure of placements.”

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