Deaths of students used as a marketing tool: IIT Kharagpur Director on campus suicides

Kolkata: Since January this year, there have been several incidents of suicide at IIT Kharagpur in West Bengal, one of the premier institutes of the country.

Expressing concern, IIT Kharagpur Director Suman Chakraborty said on Thursday that several people are trying to use the issue of ‘suicide’ as a marketing tool.

“There are 16,000 students on this campus. The crisis that has arisen among them was not created by IIT. It was created by the education system. The current generation is seem to be using excessive social media, roaming in the virtual world, overthinking and having a relatively competitive mentality. We are trying to solve the problems of each of them. But it is not possible to have 20,000 counsellors (psychologists),” Chakraborty added.

He expressed concern that the issue of suicide is being discussed as a ‘glamorous story’ on social media.

“Some students, who do not want to study are also trying to use the issue of suicide as a marketing tool. According to them, there is no need for exams. Exams create stress or pressure. Even if they fail the exam, they want us to pass them. Then there will be no more pressure. If this system is introduced in IIT, then it will become a primary school.”

After taking charge as IIT Kharagpur Director in June this year, Chakraborty took a series of steps thinking about the mental health of students.

Several initiatives were taken to address the mental health condition of the students such as the introduction of SETU app.

Despite this, six students of IIT Kharagpur died unnaturally this year, of which five were suicide cases.

In January, Shaon Malik, a third-year student of Electrical Engineering, died in an apparent death by suicide.

In April, Aniket Walker, a final-year student of Ocean Engineering, was found dead in similar conditions.

In May, 22-year-old third-year Civil Engineering student named Mohammad Asif Qamar, was found hanging.

In July, a fourth-year Mechanical Engineering student named Ritam Mondal (21) was found hanging in his hostel room. He was a resident of Regent Park in south Kolkata.

In the same month, Chandradeep Pawar, a 19-year-old Electrical Engineering student, had choked on a normal cough and cold tablet he tried to gulp after dinner in the Nehru Hall mess.

This was the only case in last five deaths which was not a suicide case.

Earlier this month, the hanging body of a researcher student was recovered from BR Ambedkar Hall at IIT Kharagpur.

The name of the deceased is Harsh Kumar Pandey (24).

He was pursuing PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the institute.

IANS