IIT Kharagpur on Saturday constituted a 10-member committee comprising psychologists, legal professionals, police officers, educationists and alumni to assess factors affecting the mental health and well-being of students, faculty and staff.
The committee was announced days after the family members of a deceased student urged the authorities to probe the spate of suicides on the campus.
The panel “will also identify the key challenges (such as inadequate resources, administrative shortfalls, academic environment)” that hinder the resolution of mental health issues on the campus.
“The committee will take stock of initiatives that are in place to address such issues and recommend further measures that can bolster the mental health eco-system of students, staff and faculty on the IIT Kharagpur campus,” said the IIT Kharagpur release.
An IIT official said: “This initiative underlines IIT Kharagpur’s deep commitment to fostering a safe, inclusive and supportive environment for its entire campus community. The committee is expected to submit its report within three months.”
Three undergraduate students have been found dead on the campus in the past four months.
Before that, in July 2024, another undergraduate student was found dead on the campus.
The last two deaths — of Aniket Walkar from Maharashtra on April 20, and Md Asif Quamar from Bihar on May 4 — took place within a fortnight.
At a hearing on May 7, the Supreme Court expressed its concern over Asif’s death and sought a report on whether the institute had lodged an FIR in connection with the death in pursuance of the court’s March 24 order.
The institute lodged FIRs in connection with the deaths of three students and a non-teaching staff member following the nudge from the apex court.
Amit Patra, acting director of IIT Kharagpur, said on Saturday: “At the level of the institution, we are taking steps to contain the situation. But there could be shortcomings in our institutional mechanism. So, we want the 10-member committee to give its report with suggestions that we can work on to prevent the loss of lives.”
Sudeep Walkar, Aniket’s brother, wrote to Patra demanding a probe into the deaths on April 28. On Saturday evening, Sudeep told The Telegraph: “We are relieved that the IIT has finally constituted a committee. We sincerely hope the committee goes a long way in preventing such cases. We also hope that the police will carry out a fair investigation into the death of my brother now that the institute has filed an FIR.”
Sudeep, who graduated from IIT Guwahati in 2022, also wrote to Kharagpur Town police station on April 28, asking them to lodge an FIR based on the complaint.
Dheeraj Singh, founder of a platform that keeps track of deaths on IIT campuses, told The Telegraph: “We hope the committee works transparently and makes its recommendations public so that all can benefit.”