IIT Kanpur Students Protest Against Administration, Witnessing 3rd Suicide In a Month

IIT Kanpur’s Students Protest Against Administration: The students of IIT Kanpur, on Friday, 19 January 2024 staged a protest against the administration on their university campus following the death of the 29-year-old PhD student.

The students of IIT Kanpur demand changes in the process of reviewing the research thesis of the PhD and the master’s program.

Students also asked for the conduction of faculty sensitization sessions by an external organisation 2 times a year to make the faculty aware of the increasing number of suicide cases due to these study methods.

What Are The Demands Of IIT Kanpur’s Students

On 18 January 2024, a PhD student of IIT Kanpur university was found dead in her hostel room. She hanged herself from a ceiling fan and committed suicide. Including this case, there have been 3 suicide cases recorded in Kanpur in just 1 month.

Infuriated by the incident, the students of IIT Kanpur, organized a protest on campus, bringing up concerns about representation, the lack of effectiveness of the redressal methods, and the need for accountability from the administration.

Following are the demands of the students of IIT Kanpur that emerged in the protest:

• Establishment of a Master’s Monitoring Committee (MMC) for the master’s student similar to the DMC.
• Conduct faculty sensitization sessions by an external organisation 2 times a year in which the participation of the faculty members is compulsory.
• Formation of an ombuds committee comprising of the students and faculties.
• Formation of an institute-level course on mental well-being and peace for the 1st year students in order to improve their mental health.
• Appointment of an external guide on the basis of research domains, so that the students do not need to face issues if the supervisor is changed.
• Introduction of therapy sessions for students, and the inclusion of more trained and experienced counsellors for the counselling.

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