60 students committed suicide at IITs and IIMs in the last five years

• India’s premier Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institute of Management (IIMs) witnessed 60 suicides in the last five years, according to the Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD).
  
• As many as 50 suicides were reported at IIT and there were 10 such cases at the management schools.
  
• As per the data from the ministry, IIT Guwahati recorded the maximum number of student suicides at 14 followed by IIT Bombay and IIT Madras.

India’s premier Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institute of Management (IIMs) witnessed 60 suicides in the last five years, according to the Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD).

Of the 23 premier Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) in India, 12 have had 50 cases of suicide. And there were 10 such cases at the management schools.

“Systems are in place in IITs to enquire and take action in all complaints from students in IIT campuses, which includes Student Grievance Cell, Disciplinary Action Committee, Counselling Centres,” said Union Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’.

The issue was brought to light after the case of 19-year-old humanities student — Fathima Lateef, who allegedly killed herself in her hostel room — was brought to light.

While a few such stories do come to light after they make headlines, several others are buried in case files. As per the data from the ministry, IIT Guwahati recorded the maximum number of student suicides at 14 followed by IIT Bombay and IIT Madras — which reported seven such cases.

And they are growing. In 2019 alone, about five students have committed suicide at IIT Madras and three at the Hyderabad campus.

Recently, an exchange student from Japan committed suicide at IIT Guwahati. "He was supposed to return to his parent university on November 30 after completion of the exchange programme. The police found him hanging from the ventilator in the bathroom," IITG public relations officer told IANS.

In India, a person commits suicide every 40 seconds. And India has the highest student suicide rate with nearly 38,000 students committing suicide since 2015. The country witnesses nearly 28% of global suicides despite accounting for 18% of the population worldwide.

To curb the growing number of suicides, the government now wants all institutions to have wellness centres. Delhi, Mumbai and Madras campuses of IITs have wellness centres. Roughly 10% of students seek counselling at IIT Madras, the Indian Express reported adding that a psychiatrist visits the campus everyday.

See also:
Student suicides spike significantly at IIT campuses

Fear, self-loathing and stress affect students appearing for competitive exams

India stopped counting suicides 3 years ago — now, it’s the worst in all of South East Asia