Chennai: IIT Madras launched a wellness survey on Thursday in which more than 30 counsellors will hold a one-to-one conversation with all students, staff, and faculty of the institute, the director of the institute said.
The move comes after four students died by suicide from February to April in the institute. The survey is being carried out by an independent agency under the aegis of the National Health Mission (NHM) in Tamil Nadu, IIT-M said. The counsellors are assigned by the NHM.
“Happiness is a collective responsibility. IIT Madras is committed to working towards ensuring the wellness of all in her campus,” said IIT-M director V Kamakoti. “The independent wellness survey is one of the important steps taken in this direction.”
Recognising that the emotional well-being of students is a concern, IIT-M recently also launched a “happiness” website. During IIT-M’s 64th institute day on April 20, Kamakoti had said that when the campus re-opened after the Covid-19 pandemic, they were challenged with an “unprecedented number of unfortunate events.”
And a day after that, an undergraduate student died by suicide inside his hostel room on the campus making it the fourth suicide in the premiere institute since February. The recent spate of suicides began in September last year with a 21-year-old student. On February 14, a postgraduate student died by suicide and another student attempted suicide by consuming pills but he was rescued.
Following this the students had gone on an overnight protest against the management. They placed a list of demands and actions with Kamokoti including an external expert committee to study the mental health of IIT-M students, addressing the professor- student relationship for research scholars, increasing facilities at the institute’s medical centre. IIT-Madras director had then said that financial stress, personal reasons, academic pressure and health issues are key reasons behind suicides on the campus.
Earlier on March 14, a 20-year-old student died by suicide inside a hostel in IIT-M. On March 31, PhD research scholar in IIT-Madras died outside of campus and his brother accused his PhD supervisor of pressuring him. Again, the students went on a protest seeking justice and demanding that the supervisor be kept away pending inquiry. The director then barred the supervisor from visiting the department’s laboratory until the completion of the inquiry.
