A survey by a platform of students at IIT Kharagpur on mental health revealed “significant gaps in the emotional support available to students”.
The survey was conducted by Awaaz, which identifies itself as a student media body on the campus.
During the survey, when the students were asked whether there were any specific mental health resources or services they would like to see implemented or improved, the “open-ended responses” highlighted major gaps in the emotional support available to the students.
The feedback collated during the survey and posted on the Facebook page of Awaaz on December 13 and 15, says: “While a few felt no additional measures were needed, most emphasised the urgent demand for more accessible, emphatic and pro-active mental health services.”
In response to a question on how they would rate their overall mental well-being on a scale of 5, only 13.2% of the students checked the highest scale.
The survey was conducted following the spate of deaths on the campus that has raised questions about the absence of any robust mechanism to prevent deaths, said those associated with the Awaaz.
IIT director Suman Chakraborty, who has initiated a slew of measures to improve the mental health mechanism since assuming charge in mid-June, said: “I do not know what the survey says. So many online surveys are done these days. We have taken a range of steps to help students by extending mental and emotional support. The outcome of it would be visible in a year or two.”
Students associated with the platform said they carried out the census over the past year among the students using Google Forms.
Around the time, six IIT students — four BTech students and two research scholars — have died.
“The recurrence of deaths has left us concerned, prompting us to carry out the survey. As a responsible student
body, we wanted to put the feedback in the public domain. Now it’s for the administration to take note of it and act,” said a student.
In response to the question on whether the students experienced stress or anxiety related to academic workload or performance expectations, the survey says 69.2% of the students affirmed they experienced stress or anxiety.
When asked whether they felt that they had been adequately supported by the IIT in managing academic stress, 56.8% of the students gave a negative response.
In the introductory note of the survey, Awaaz said: “We asked students how campus really feels — about mental health, peer pressure, fitting in, and the things that are hard to talk about. What came back were numbers that point to quiet struggles many of us carry but rarely voice.”
“These responses are more than numbers. They are us, and listening to them is the first step toward making IIT Kharagpur a place where everyone feels seen, heard and included,” said the introductory note.
IIT Kharagpur’s dean of students’ well-being Arun Chakraborty said as part of an effort to address concerns over mental health, IIT introduced the parents’ induction programme in July
“We again followed it up between November 11 and 13 because many students identified parental pressure as a factor triggering stress,” the director said.
The on-campus counselling facilities have been revamped, the dean said.
“In addition to the existing counsellors, there are 10 more such professionals (called Dosts) who move around the campus, interact with students and researchers as friends,” he said.
In its meeting held in October, the IIT senate has resolved that students will not be de-registered for lack of attendance.
This was done so students did not come under any attendance-related stress, an IIT official said.