IIT-B students seek task force, director’s resignation

MUMBAI: Students at IIT-Bombay have handed over a 12-point list of demands to the institute’s administration, seeking the resignation of the institute’s director and other senior officials as well as a task force to address student suicides at the country’s most elite engineering institution

MUMBAI: Students at IIT-Bombay have handed over a 12-point list of demands to the institute’s administration, seeking the resignation of the institute’s director and other senior officials as well as a task force to address student suicides at the country’s most elite engineering institution.

IIT-B students seek task force, director’s resignation. (Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times)

The move comes amid student protests at IIT-B’s Powai campus after Friday’s student suicide. The protests, which began on Friday night, ended on Saturday night, after the police agreed to the parents’ demand for a crime branch investigation into their son’s death.

On Saturday, more than 100 students assembled at the institute’s main gate. The agitation focused on academic pressure, examination rules, student wellness services and the way disciplinary matters are handled at IIT-B.

IIT-B director Shireesh Kedare held discussions with students on Friday, but the students said they were not satisfied with the outcome.

Students posted a 12-point list of demands on social media, which include the resignation of the institute’s director, dean of student affairs and examination officials. They are also demanding student representation in examination and academic committees; an inquiry into Friday’s alleged death by suicide; an independent inquiry into earlier student suicides; and a task force to address student suicides.

Students cited undue examination pressure as a major concern, noting instances when two, and even three, exams are scheduled on the same day.

They also demanded mental-health sensitisation workshops for teachers, streamlined functioning of the Student Wellness Centre, recognition of student bodies, restoration of campus democracy and an anonymous online portal where students can voice concerns.

The institute told students it would increase its focus on student mental health, adding that eight psychologists are working as consultants on campus.